Charmed 1. Chapter 1

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A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 1**

"So you think we both got that power of premonitions?... But..." Cole said when they walked up the stairs to the front door.  
"Yeah," Chris interrupted him, "We went in that place as Cole Turner and Christopher Halliwell... And we passed the test. So Cole Turner and Christopher Halliwell got that power..."  
Cole shook his head: "But you don't have that..."  
"Because I'm not the Christopher Halliwell who got it," Chris explained while opening the door. "Look... I'm the second one from the point of view of magic. I'm the one who doesn't belong here really. My little self is the first in the row."  
Cole just looked at him, as all this sank slowly in: "And that's why your mom had these visions when..."  
"Now you've got it uncle!" Chris said pointing his finger to his chest.  
Cole laughed. "Well... if you say so..."  
Chris threw his keys to the drawers and then put his bag on the ground next to it.  
At that second Phoebe ran down the stairs. She ran over to Cole and jumped to his arms. Her fiancé dropped his bags to the ground, hugged her and kissed her passionately. "I missed you honey," he muttered while kissing her.  
"So?" she replied. "If that's true why did you go?"  
Cole placed her back to her feet and smiled. "Because your nephew asked my to buy some baby-dresses with him," he explained grinning.  
Chris grinned too: "Yeah... that's what a future godfather is for, right?"  
"So will you show me what you bought?" Phoebe asked excited. She had already looked into the bags on the ground and taken out a little pink dress with a teddybear on it. "Oh, that's so cute," she said grinning.  
Cole and Chris just shook their heads. Then, the Elder-witch looked at his uncle: "You really should think about having your own kid."  
Phoebe rose his head: "Well... not that I don't want children... But... soon there will be enough babies around here."  
Cole nodded: "Exactly..." Lovingly he pulled her up again and close to himself: "And there is still enough time for us..." She hugged and kissed him again.  
Chris sat down on the stairs and watched them grinning.  
"Hey... there is a bedroom for something like that," Piper said. She had just entered from the kitchen.  
"Hello future-sister-in-law," Cole said, not taking his eyes away form Phoebe.  
Piper just shook her head. Then she winked at her son: "There is some pizza in the kitchen."  
Chris jumped up with a thankful smile. "That's exactly what I need!" he said and went away. At the door to the kitchen he turned around to his mom again: "Don't you think it would be better if you relaxed?" His voice sounded really worried.  
Piper rolled her eyes. "I think you should relax, or I swear there will be no birthday-gifts for you tomorrow."  
"Hey, there is only one thing I want... me being born!" Chris replied and left to the kitchen. His mother followed him with her eyes, thoughtful touching her womb.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris put out a plate and sat down on the table. He took a big piece of the pizza with mushrooms, pineapple and ham. It smelled very delicious. He just wanted to start eating, when someone shimmered in. First, he thought it would be his wife, but then he turned pale.  
He jumped up and tried to duck when he saw the demon. The creature threw a fireball at him, but luckily the demon missed him.  
"Damn!" Chris swore, and threw the demon through the room. The sound of breaking wood, when he crashed into the sidebord, was heard in the whole house.  
The Elder-witch jumped up to his feat, ready for another attack, but the demon just shimmered out.  
In the same second his family entered. "What's going on here?" Phoebe asked.  
Chris just shrugged: "The usual business."  
Piper went over to him caressing his cheek. "Are you ok, son?" she asked.  
"Yeah, I'm alright," he sighed. "And you? I mean..." Chris was the whole time afraid that something could happen to his mom. And now, after that attack, he worried even more.  
"What did he look like?" Cole asked.  
"Actually, I think it was a 'she'... and well...she had two horns..." Then Chris raised his eyebrows and sighed. "I'll go and have a look on the book." He winked to Cole and orbed to the attic.  
"Alright, I'll clean up this mess," Piper said and took the broom.  
"No, Piper..."  
"Let us do..."  
Phoebe and Cole didn't want her to do that, Piper should relax as Chris had said. But when they approached her and Phoebe accidentally touched her, she had a premonition. She was just flashed for a moment.  
"What?" Piper asked knowing very well the kind of look her sister had now.  
"Oh-oh..." Phoebe muttered. Then she called for Leo.  
"What?" Piper asked again, when her husband orbed in. But her sister didn't lose time with explanations. "Orb us to the school," she just said. Leo noticed her worried look and just did it.  
No one had noticed that Cole was standing in the corner very pale. Slowly he went over to the trashcan and vomited into it.  
He had seen it. He had touched Piper's arm and then he had seen it. Chris was right... he had a premonition, his first premonition. He saw the same things his fiancée had seen.  
He had seen Chris, the oldest one, approaching the baby... and then, he saw a bright light covering everything. 'Oh my God... the prophecy,' he thought.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris was deeply concentrated on the book, trying to find the demon with horns. He looked at every page and examined the picture of the demon thoroughly, so that he didn't skip it.  
He was a little bit frustrated... During the last week, the amount of stupid demons trying to kill them had increased quite a lot. But he didn't think it was really important. The same stuff as always! All the demons had been different, they had never found a connection between them, so they had just gone through the pages of the book, prepared some potions, found the demon, and vanquished him or her. Quite simple.  
But this time he was about to reach the final page of the book, and there was nothing to be found. He growled upset. There should be something!  
At that very moment someone orbed by his side. Chris turned to look at the newcomer in surprise: "Bianca!"  
"This little girl really enjoys orbing all the time!" she said, feigning frustration.  
Chris chuckled and touched her womb, quite big by now. "Hey, Hope... Missing daddy?"  
Bianca grinned, and took his hand between hers. Then she kissed him lovingly on his lips.  
"Oh..." Chris muttered after the kiss was done. "maybe it was mom that told you to bring her here orbing, so that she could blame you..."  
Bianca laughed and slapped him softly on his chest: "You're really a bad boy, Chris!" Then she saw the open book, and frowned: "What are you looking for? Something happened?"  
Chris nodded and then shook his head: "Well, something, yes, but you know... the usual stuff. You don't need to worry, sweetie. Just an ugly female demon with horns." Bianca approached the book to take a look at it, as he continued talking: "The problem is I cannot find her here. I don't think it's possible that no demon of her species has ever been vanquished by my family. I'm pretty sure she was a low-level demon..."  
Bianca pushed him aside a little bit and started to revise the book herself. Finally she sighed:  
"You must have been really bad at hide and seek... Here you are. Is it this one?"  
Chris frowned: "Yes... It seems so... Well, I hadn't reached the last pages, ok?" He stopped suddenly and stared at something on the page. He narrowed his eyes: "It seems... it seems that actually, none of my relatives or ancestors killed any of her species before."  
"What do you mean? She's in the book, isn't she? Because it's that one... Am I right?"  
Chris nodded, and pointed to the short poem written by the drawing: "But there's no spell, Bianca... And I guess you can recognise this handwriting too."  
Bianca opened her eyes widely: "Oh, my God..."  
_"A woman with horns is not what you think. The big is small, the small is big. Just don't forget, try to think. Ignore the visible, find those that hid."  
_Both of them looked at each other in awe... A new riddle by Wyatt. Well, for sure, one of those they ignored the last time, when they were trying to decipher the one regarding the Phoenix and the double demons. In this case, the whole entry seemed to be made by him.  
"Look..." There was something else, not only the poem.  
_"When the time comes, the sun will be defeated by the darkness... Don't let it happen." _

°°°°°°°°°°

Slowly Cole went to the hidden door. He felt still a little sick, and wished he could just lie down, but he needed to talk to Phoebe.  
Actually he was a little afraid about what she would say if she heard the truth. He hadn't told her, or the other sisters, until now. Still, he didn't want to be a witch...  
But now he needed to talk. So he went close to the wall. As soon as he was near enough, he moved his hand over a spot in the wall and the old wooden door appeared. He opened it and stepped through.  
The next second he was at the school. He stood in the grand hallway where a dozen of kids were running from one side to another... A usual school-day.  
Cole turned to the library. He was sure that his fiancée would be there... or in the little office next to it.  
On his way down the hallway he almost ran into Steve. "Hey, what are you doing here?" the young witch asked.  
He looked funny dressed in his teacher-robe... same as the rest of the family. Cole always had to smile when he saw them like that. But not today: "I'm seeking Phoebe, have you seen her?"  
Steve shook his head. Then he moved on, apologising that he had no time. Cole waved his hand to him and then he went on.  
A few moments later he reached the library, where Phoebe - as he had guessed - was talking to Piper and Leo. "Hey," he said when he went in.  
The others turned around surprised. But Cole didn't care. He just looked at his love: "I need to talk to you, now!"  
Phoebe sighed: "Couldn't you wait a moment? We have a really big problem and..."  
"Phoebe, please..." he interrupted her.  
He looked not good at all. Phoebe saw that, and she also could feel that... she felt that he was worried... and scared... "Ok, but... not too long," she said, nodding at Leo. Then she took Cole's hand and went out with him.  
Piper looked at her husband scared: "I still can't believe that..."  
"We still don't know what this is about... maybe Phoebe took her premonition the wrong way..."  
"But what if it's true?"  
Leo sighed: "It can't be... Wyatt said they will be both there in the future... So this can't be the end of it, ok?"  
Piper nodded: "But if it's not... what else is it?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe went with Cole to an empty classroom. After they had entered, he closed the door carefully.  
"Alright, honey, what's wrong?" she asked impatient.  
Cole sighed, he didn't know how to start...  
"Ok, so if you don't know what to say then I'll go back... 'Cause THAT is really important... And I pray it's not as bad as it felt..." Phoebe was about to leave.  
"I know," Cole just said.  
She turned around: "What?"  
"I know what you're afraid of..." he answered.  
Phoebe frowned. 'What the hell is he talking about?' she thought. She sensed lots of weird feelings inside him, but nothing which could explain his words.  
Cole sighed again: "Look... do you remember the people in grey?" Phoebe nodded, so he went on.  
"Chris and I tried to get that witch-potion... And that place... it's a testing area... and when you pass the test you become..." He really didn't want to end this sentence.  
Phoebe was still frowning: "Honey, what do you want to tell me?"  
Cole shook his head: "I want to tell you that I feel like being hit by a truck, put into a dough mixer and spat out by a fucking little monster from the underworld, just because I touched Piper accidentally and saw how Chris and his baby version created that extremely bright light!"  
Phoebe looked at him shocked. Could that be possible? She frowned and asked: "Do... do you mean... do you mean you had a premonition?"  
Cole sighed, and then nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris and Bianca read and re-read the riddle thousands of times, trying to make sense of it. Finally, Chris sighed, frustrated: "Oh, man... I think my brother is just having fun of me... he knows how much I hate riddles!"  
Bianca approached him and patted his shoulder lovingly: "Ok, honey... It will be like the other times. Even if it doesn't make any sense now, everything will fit at the end. Just relax. Maybe it'd be a good idea to copy this down and try to decipher it downstairs, sitting on the sofa, and drinking some tea..."  
Chris nodded. "Ok," he sighed. Then he orbed a paper and a pencil to his hand, and copied the whole poem and the short note.  
"Ok, let's go," Bianca said, taking his hand and holding her womb with the other.  
"No, wait, don't shimmer, I'll orb both of us, you shouldn't wear yourself off."  
And they did as Chris had said. He left the attic with the feeling that something was really wrong. 'The woman with horns is not what I think?' Chris thought. That sounded more like a joke... But he knew Wyatt's riddles weren't jokes.

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe kept staring at Cole, with her mouth widely open for several seconds.  
"Ok, Phoebe, I know... It's scary and all... I was a demon, and now I have the powers of a witch. But I swear to God, that I didn't want them. I didn't do anything! Well, it seems I did, but it was not my intention, sweetie, and I don't want that this bothers you and..."  
Phoebe suddenly realised Cole's feelings, so she just put her finger on his lips making him stop bubbling, and smiled sweetly: "That's... This is amazing, sweetheart. I'm so happy for you... for us! You're now a true Halliwell, a witch as all of us!"  
"What?" Cole was surprised. He had thought that the fact that an ex-demon had now witch powers would scare her, but she behaved in the opposite way as the one he had imagined she would do. "You don't mind?"  
Phoebe grinned: "Why? You really deserve this, honey! You did so many good things for us, you really deserve this prize!" She jumped on his arms and hugged him tightly: "I can't believe it!"  
Cole hugged her back, still shocked by her reaction, but uneasy due to the fact that he felt it was wrong, that he had those powers. "Don't tell them ok? Don't tell especially Odin... You know... I guess he wouldn't like it..."  
Phoebe looked him in the eyes, and finally nodded: "I promise... But they should know sooner or later, and this is good, really good, honey! I can't believe you're a witch... How comes that Odin doesn't know it? I mean, he should know what happened in those fields if you passed the test... So maybe he knows..."  
Cole shrugged: "Perhaps he thought it wouldn't work anymore... I don't know but... Just don't tell him, please. Anyone. And now, just let's focus on what has happened, because I've got a very bad feeling about what we have seen, and now... I guess I should pay more attention to my bad feelings."  
Phoebe nodded, suddenly remembering what they were doing there.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper was looking at the little old-looking sheet of paper. She read it again and again.  
_"The day in which the sun is defeated, in which the whole sky falls down, that day, two lives will collide, and the world will tremble in awe at the new power."  
_After they had vanquished Zankou and the Sorix, they had all forgotten about the prophecy, or wanted to forget. But - for which reason ever - Piper had kept that little sheet of paper in her pocket.  
"What?" Leo asked  
"Nothing, I'm only afraid to lose them."  
Leo sighed and sat down next to her. He kissed her lovingly: "They will be alright, both of them."  
Piper touched her womb thoughtful: "What if we go to the hospital and let them cut the little one out... I mean... Let's give birth to him by Caesarean... today... the day before... wouldn't that change something? I mean.. they wouldn't be born on the same day..."  
Leo couldn't help grinning: "I don't think that makes any difference."  
At that moment Phoebe and Cole returned. "Ok, what are we gonna do?" she asked looking at her sister.  
Piper and Leo looked questioning at Cole. Phoebe noticed that, and also, that her fiancé felt uncomfortable about that... So she added: "I told him."  
"What?" Piper asked, "I thought we didn't want to..."  
"Sorry, he's my future husband, remember..."  
Piper sighed. Leo looked frowning at Cole. The ex-demon-and-now-witch just shrugged. He could imagine what Leo was thinking, but he hoped his imagination was wrong.  
"Cole, did you listen?" Piper asked again, pulling him out of his thoughts.  
"What?"  
"No word to Chris about that, alright?"  
Cole nodded.  
"Oh-oh..." Leo said all of a sudden, "Chris is sensing for you!"

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris and Bianca orbed into the living room they noticed that it was unusually calm.  
"Mom?" Chris called for her.  
"Uncle Cole?"  
"Aunt Phoebe?"  
Nothing!  
"Mom? Phoebe? Cole? Where are you?"  
They went into the kitchen. The remaining pieces of the sideboard were still where Chris had left them. "MOM!" he yelled again.  
"Try to sense her," Bianca said frowning. It wasn't usual that her mother-in-law left such a mess uncleaned.  
"They are at the school," Chris said frowning after a few seconds. I think I should go and..."  
Bianca put her finger on his lips: "I know..." Then she kissed him on his cheek.  
But before Chris could orb to the school, Leo appeared in bluish orbing-lights.  
"Dad," Chris said surprised, "what are you doing here? Is the Elder-meeting already over?"  
"No... well, actually, yes," Leo said, trying to appear calm and happy. "I just wanted to tell you that your mom is fine, at the school."  
Chris and Bianca frowned. "Why the hell did you take her there? What's wrong? What's happening?" Chris asked, concerned.  
Leo shook his head and raised his hands, showing him that he didn't need to worry about anything. "The other Elders and I thought that there have been many demonic attacks lately in this house, son... And they said that Piper should stay in the school until your little self is born, at least. Just for protection."  
Bianca stared at Leo, wonderingly, and Chris was still frowning: "Why are they worrying so much now, if in the past they didn't really mind? Come on, dad, there are some who still dislike me!"  
Leo shrugged: "Odin is on our side, That's much. Everyone respects him, you know... And they feel they owe us many things so... It's just a little favour Chris... nothing else. Nothing to worry about."  
"Ok..." Chris sighed. "But they left so suddenly. They should have told me that they were leaving! I was scared for a moment!" he complained.  
Bianca took his hand lovingly: "It's ok, Chris... Forget it... It's better that we tell them about... you know."  
This time it was Leo that looked at her waiting for an answer.  
Chris nodded: "Yeah... The demon... That's why I was so scared, dad." Chris invited him to sit down, as he did the same thing, followed by Bianca. "A female demon attacked me a few minutes ago, and when I was looking for her entry in the book, I found another one of Wyatt's riddles!"  
"What?" Leo exclaimed, surprised.  
"We don't know what it really means... you know. It seems more like a joke, but Wyatt wouldn't joke with this..."  
"Can you tell me the riddle?"  
"We can show you," Bianca answered stretching her arm to give him the copy of the riddle and the short note. Leo read it in silent...

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper was talking quietly to her sister while Cole sat in the opposite corner of the library looking into a book about prophecies.  
"Why did you tell him?" the oldest asked again.  
Phoebe sighed: "Because I love him. And maybe he could help us."  
"How?"  
"He's Chris best friend. No one is so close to him like Cole. He trusts him," Phoebe explained, "what if he asks why you're here?" She knew this was a bad explanation, but she loved Cole. And she really wanted to keep to her promise. She never would tell her sisters about his power...  
Piper frowned, than nodded: "I see."  
"Are you sure you got the words of the prophecy right?" Cole asked after a while.  
"Yes, that's what the demon and also Leo had said... why do you ask?" Piper gave back.  
Cole sighed: "Because in this book is a prophecy written down, witch is really similar to ours..."  
"Really?" Phoebe asked surprised.  
"Yeah, here... there is one about the moon defeating the sun... and a world trembling in awe... like in our prophecy... And the meaning was just a panic forced by a solar eclipse on midsummersday," Cole explained.  
"But we have no moon, in THIS prophecy... So?" Piper asked not getting his point.  
Cole grinned: "I know, but when you compare them... I mean, maybe it isn't bad actually, maybe it only seems so... like in this one about the solar eclipse."  
Phoebe sighed: "I wish you would be right but what I saw..."  
"Was just a light, right?"  
Piper looked at him surprised. When Cole realised what he had just said, he turned pale. But Phoebe helped him: "I told him."  
"Oh," Piper just nodded, even if she got the feeling that there was more... But there were more important things to deal with.  
Cole sighed, looking thankful at his future wife. He loved her so much, and now, with her support, he loved her even more.  
"But anyway..." Phoebe went on, "even if it was just a light... I can't deny that bad feeling I got... Something about that is really everything but good."

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo re-read the poem for the tenth time. Then he looked up: "Any idea what that could mean?" Chris and Bianca shook their heads. "The big is small..." Leo whispered more to himself. 'Could that be all a part of it?' he thought.  
"What?" Bianca asked noticing his weird look.  
Leo shook his head: "Nothing."  
"Ok," Chris said, "what's going on here?"  
"What?" Leo asked not understanding what his son was talking about.  
Chris raised an eyebrow: "Even if in my time we were not the best team in the world... I've known you for a long time, don't forget that... You're hiding something... So? What is it?"  
Leo sighed. He didn't know what to say, or do... He couldn't tell him about Phoebe's premonition. He had promised to keep that secret. And even if he had not... He couldn't tell this to his son and spoil his life again.  
At that moment the phone rang. Bianca went into the living room to answer the call, while Chris was still focused on his father.  
But then they heard the girl from the other room: "Chris, honey, it's for you."  
Chris went over to her and took the phone: "Yeah?"  
"Hey Chris, it's me, Mike, do you remember me?" he heard a familiar voice from the other end of the line.  
"Of cause I do," Chris answered smiling.  
Leo, who had followed him, looked questioning at Bianca.  
"It's Michael," she explained.  
"Oh, I wish I could, but... you know we have some... demonic problems and I..." they heard Chris say.  
"Chris?" the Elder interrupted him. His son looked up. "What does he want?" Leo asked.  
Chris shrugged: "He wanted to invite me and Bianca for a dinner... You know... he told his wife about me a few days ago - he told her a little fairy tale you know - and now she wants to meet us. But..."  
"No, no..." Leo said waving his hands, "go there, it's no problem... and I think you need a break... Meanwhile I'll think about that message from your brother..."  
"Really?" Chris asked, not really sure if he and Bianca should leave them now.  
Leo nodded: "Yeah... you deserve a little life without magic."  
Chris nodded finally, making Bianca smile. Then he turned to the phone again: "Is it ok when we come in about 30 seconds?... Ok, then a couple of minutes - yeah... Alright... So... see you."  
He hang up the phone, took Bianca's hand and looked at his father. "Thank you," he said. Then the both orbed away.  
Leo sighed when he saw the bluish orbing lights disappear. It was good that Chris was a little distracted now... maybe they would find a solution before he would come back.

_

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(Chapter 1 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 2**

Michael lived in a cute house in the suburbs, with a big and very neatly cared garden full of flowers. There were other similar houses in the area, but they were scattered enough as to make it a safe place to orb in without being seen.  
So, Chris and Bianca had orbed straight behind the house, where the garage was. Michael had told them that this was the best place to do that, because Angela would be in the kitchen, cooking, and he himself would take care that she didn't go out.  
Thus, Chris and Bianca walked surrounding the house until they had reached the main entrance, and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Michael appeared at the door, smiley and with his arms stretched at his sides, inviting for a hug which Chris corresponded immediately.  
"Wow, man!!! I'm so happy to see you again! It's been quite a long time..." Then, turning to Bianca and opening his eyes widely, he added: "Really a long time... girl, that baby is going to be born in my house!"  
Chris and Bianca laughed heartly. "Don't worry, Mike... She's a clever girl and knows she has to wait a little bit yet," said Chris, winking at him.  
Bianca nodded, still laughing: "I know, this is alarming, but I can tell you this is not the moment yet..." Michael laughed and embraced her too.  
At that moment Angela appeared at his back, grinning: "So you're the couple of heroes that saved my husband's life... I was so excited to meet you!! Come in, please, don't stay outside..."  
Bianca and Chris looked at each other, and then entered, wondering what Michael had told her. But the young man was smiling at them, so there was nothing to worry about.  
Angela walked to the kitchen, because she wanted to see if the turkey was ready, while Michael led them to the dining room.  
"You know..." the woman said from the kitchen, "I can't believe yet that you jumped in front of that bus just to save Mikey."  
Chris opened his eyes widely, and Bianca and Michael chuckled silently.  
Meanwhile Angela went on: "Yeah... it's a really amazing story..."  
They could hear the noise she was making by taking the tray out of the oven, and preparing all the plates.  
"Mikey's foot trapped between those bars, the bus coming... And suddenly you jumped over him!!!"  
Chris couldn't believe what she was telling. He looked at Michael and said in a low voice: "I've seen that movie, dude... Couldn't you have been more original?"  
"Huh?" his friend shrugged not knowing what Chris was talking about.  
Chris waved his hand: "Forget it!"  
Angela continued talking, so Michael asked him to be silent.  
"And then... Bianca... she was the one that treated him in the hospital... You, Chris, saved him, but the knock on his head was so strong that he passed out... And you took him to the hospital, where your wife saved him!!! Really, really unbelievable..."  
This time it was Bianca that was shocked: "What?? You made me a nurse??"  
"A doctor, sweetie... You were the doctor, don't forget it... Chris took me to the hospital where his wife worked. And you were the one who saved me."  
"But..." Chris and Bianca started, when Angela appeared at the door, very smiley, with a big turkey on a tray.  
"I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with you two, guys, 6 months before - exactly 6 months before - just to thank you for everything..." The two nodded, surprised, wordless.  
"Come on, dudes, sit down, you're at home!" Michael said, very lively.  
"And all that time..." Angela sighed, "I was in that stupid coma in the same hospital as him... It was really amazing... That you, Bianca worked in the same hospital. So you took my husband there... and when he was completely recovered, I woke up!!" she said, very impressed.  
Michael nodded, and took her hand: "Isn't that romantic, honey?? It was the happiest day of my life, and finally we could marry..."  
She frowned: "It's more than romantic... It's as if fate had something to do with all this." Then she turned to look at Chris and Bianca: "Do you believe in fate?? I mean, in destiny, that we all have a future to fulfil, that we cannot choose... Whatever we do, our destiny is waiting for us there, in the future. Do you believe in that??"  
Chris and Bianca looked at each other, and Michael stared at them serious and silent. He knew the answer perfectly well.  
"Well..." Chris started, "I have always believed that there's no destiny... There are several choices, and you just take one."  
"But that one takes you to your destiny. You were destined to take that one... And you cannot change what you did, Chris, you cannot change the past. So... that's destiny. There are several choices, but you are destined to take one, and only that one... You chose to save Mike, and take them to the hospital, and the fate did the rest. I woke up that very same day!!!"  
Bianca shrugged: "Yeah... maybe you're right... Anyway, we'll never know." She smiled.  
Chris was pensive. It was weird that they were talking about that stuff of destiny and changing the past. Taking into account that he was going to be born the following day, and the prophecy-stuff they had already dealt with... and that he had actually changed the past and everything. He didn't really know what to believe!  
"What is weird is that I don't remember everything from that time, the hospital, or the doctors, or what happened... nor you guys... Bianca, you were supposed to be there, but... Even if you look familiar to me, both of you... I don't remember all the details. Just some general things..."  
Michael intervened: "You know what they said, that the shock and everything made you forget a lot. You don't need to worry. It was a terrible shock, a terrible accident. It's a miracle you're alive, and I'm so happy. Don't worry about those details. You don't really need to remember them."  
She nodded, pensive, and finally started to cut the turkey: "Well, let's have dinner... It's high time!"

°°°°°°°°°°

"Anything new?" Leo asked right after he had returned. Piper just shook her head.  
"What about Chris?" Cole asked worried.  
"Yeah... well... that's interesting... and maybe it could be really important..."  
"Don't do that blah-blah, Leo," Phoebe said with a harsh voice.  
The Elder sighed: "Chris was searching for something about the 'today-demon'... and he found an entry in the book... written by Wyatt!"  
"One of those riddles?" Piper asked.  
Leo nodded: "The whole entry was made by him." Then he handed the copy to the sisters.  
"But what about him? Wasn't he wondering where we had gone?" Cole asked a little frustrated and freaked out about the whole situation.  
"He was," Leo explained, "I told him that the Elders had decided it would be better for Piper to stay here, because of the latest attacks."  
Piper and Phoebe nodded. But Cole shook his head: "And you really think he believes that? I mean, he isn't stupid, he..."  
"I know, Cole," Leo interrupted him angry. It seemed they were all a little stressed. But then he forced himself to calm down again: "I think he will find out sooner or later... He might have suppressed that prophecy stuff, but surely not forgotten..." Cole nodded. "Actually he and Bianca are visiting Michael," he went on, "but when he returns, someone has to talk to him..."  
"I will do that," Cole said. He felt that this was his part... He wished he had already done it. The others nodded.  
Phoebe grabbed the copy: "And now we should have a closer look on Wyatt's message.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Yes, Mr. Waterbe" Paige said on the phone. She hat put the receiver between her ear and her shoulder, writing down the message with one hand, handing out a folder to the man in front of her with the other.  
"Yes, Mr. Waterbe... Goodbye, Mr. Waterbe..." she hung up the phone and sighed.  
That new job was really freaky. She worked as a kind of secretary, but she felt more like a slave. Her boss was a tyrant.  
The man was still standing in front of her desk, smiling. "What?" Paige asked.  
"Nothing," he said, "I'm just surprised how well you handle that."  
Paige smiled back: "Thanks."  
The man stretched out his hand and she took it. "I'm Travor... Travor Anderson," he said still shaking her hand.  
Paige's eyes grew wide. "The son of THAT Anderson?" she asked pointing at the door to the office of her boss.  
He nodded: "The disliked, useless son... right... And you must be Miss Matthews... the part-time jobber, right?"  
"Call me Paige," she said nodding.  
"Well..." he said, "if you have time for a coffee break...?"  
But in that moment, Mr. Anderson opened his office-door: "Miss Matthews - dictation." Then he noticed his son was there: "If you have nothing to do, go down and check the mail!" he yelled at him.  
Travor grinned to Paige: "Just call me if you have time."  
Paige nodded. Then, she took a deep breath and went into the office.

°°°°°°°°°°

The turkey was really delicious. Angela felt a little embarrassed by Chris's and Bianca's compliments. While they were eating they talked a lot about all kinds of stuff.  
"How long will it be before your child is born?" Angela asked Bianca.  
"Well... about two months."  
"And... Are you excited about that?"  
"Angy," Michael said grinning about her curiosity.  
"It's ok," Bianca assured him. Then, she turned to Angela again: "Well... Actually... I'm a little nervous... but... you know, I'm not the only one pregnant in this family... Chris's..." She made a short break, thinking about what to say. "Chris's oldest sister is also pregnant... and well, she's counting the days down, actually... So, this moment, I'm more nervous about her..."  
Angela nodded: "I see."  
"It will be really jam-packed in your house... with all the kids," Michael remarked.  
Chris grinned: "Well... that's what makes it so interesting."  
"Huh? You live all together?" Angela asked.  
Chris shrugged: "More or less..."  
"You and your sister?" she couldn't believe it.  
Chris grinned: "Me and my family, my sister and her family, my other sister and her fiancé, and my third sister... yes!" In his thoughts he hoped, he would never get in trouble by telling others that his mom and aunts were his sisters... That was freaky, but also the best explanation for those who didn't know...  
"Man, that's a real big family."  
Michael couldn't help grinning. He already knew that Chris and his wife weren't really living at that house, not at that moment... But he also knew that he had to keep that secret, even if it was hard for him. He wished he could tell his wife, but she wouldn't understand.  
"Anyway," Chris said, "'cause we're up to that topic at the moment..."  
He made a short break looking at his wife who nodded. Then, he turned to Michael again: "We already asked Cole if he wanted to be the godfather of our child... but... we also want to have a second one, just in case... so... if you're interested ...????"  
Michael's eyes grew wide: "You want me to be her godfather?"  
"Yeah Mike," Bianca said, "I don't know who would be better."  
Angela smiled. "Wow," Michael didn't know what to say. "Of course I will... It's an honor for me," he finally said.  
Chris smiled happily. Bianca touched her womb softly: "Well, I think she likes that idea, too."  
Chris and Michael turned to her a little freaked out. Both were afraid that Hope could actually DO something.  
But Bianca just smiled and explained: "She's boxing a little." Both men sighed relieved; then they all started to laugh happily.

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe frowned after reading the riddle. "I can't believe that this cute little blonde boy can spend so much time making up this stuff... Couldn't he simply have written what the hell is gonna happen?"  
"We talked about that, honey..." Piper said, holding her womb, and feeling a little bit dizzy. "He didn't want to break the rule of 'not a word about the future'. You know... future consequences..."  
Leo saw her pale face and ran to kneel by her side: "Are you ok??"  
Piper nodded. "Yes, don't worry... This is normal. Little Chris is looking forward to going out."  
Cole stared at him: "Are you sure he won't be born today?"  
Phoebe smiled and pressed his arm: "Completely, sweetheart. We have never been so sure of anything. We have the living proof wandering among us."  
He nodded sighing, as she went on: "Now... the prophecy, and the riddle..."  
Leo looked at the sisters, with a questioning look in his eyes: "Shouldn't I go and bring Paige?"  
The others shook their heads: "No, just leave her alone with her non-magical job. These are just riddles, we can handle that without the power of three..." answered Piper.  
Leo nodded again, not really convinced. He didn't want his wife to get exhausted, not now.  
But Phoebe and Cole were already working on the two short verses:  
_"A woman with horns is not what you think. The big is small, the small is big. Just don't forget, try to think. Ignore the visible, find those that hid.  
The day in which the Sun is defeated, in which the whole sky falls down, that day, two lives will collide, and the world will tremble in awe at the new power."  
_Phoebe re-read it in a loud voice.  
Then, Leo intervened: "There was something else in that entry. Look..."  
_"When the time comes, the sun will be defeated by the darkness..."  
_"Ok..." Phoebe said after thinking a little bit in silence. "Where's that other prophecy you found in that book, Cole?? Just let's put everything together... Maybe they're the pieces of the same puzzle..."  
Cole rushed to take the book and flipped through the pages until he found the wanted one, which he read as follows:  
_"The day in which the moon defeats the sun, in which the whole sky falls down, that day, the world will tremble in awe."  
_Cole shrugged after reading it. "It's an old book of prophecies... From when people believed that every sign in the sky meant the end of the world... That's why I wonder whether all this stuff is really worth worrying about."  
"The Sorix worried, Cole," Phoebe stated, as she re-read all the verses. "Zankou was also interested. I think we should worry. And above all, after what I have seen."  
Piper interrupted her: "But what did you see exactly, Phoebe? A light???"  
Cole and Phoebe nodded at the same time.  
Leo frowned, staring at him; then he took the papers and started to read them, as Piper continued: "A light... after both Chrises touched each other... But nothing else." Her sister looked at her. "I mean... You didn't see what really happens after the light..."  
Phoebe shook her head: "But..."  
"Wait..." Leo said suddenly. "You saw a light... A really bright light."  
All the faces turned to him.  
"Yes, Leo, a light," she answered, impatient.  
"But tomorrow there's an eclipse... I think. Tomorrow the darkness defeats the light in its whole sense..."  
Phoebe and Piper sighed, and nodded, but Cole frowned, thinking about his own vision, and trying to follow Leo's reasoning.  
"Unless..." Leo flipped through the pages of the book, searching for the papers where they had written all the verses. Finally he found it: "Unless the whole sky falls down..."  
The others looked at him waiting for an explanation.  
"This is a metaphor, isn't it?? The sky doesn't really fall down... But what if there's a star shower...?"  
Piper opened her mouth in surprise, and Phoebe looked at him, wordless.  
"Oh my God..." Cole murmured... Of course... He had forgotten. All the TV news had talked about it... June, 24. This year, one of the weirder days in history. During the day, the moon would cover the sun completely. Darkness would wrap up the country, and the old legend of the darkness defeating the sun would be fulfilled as has never been before.  
BUT, during that time, if the ancient human beings had been able to witness this, they would have knelt and praised the gods, because... The light would actually defeat the darkness in a wonderful neverseen starshower! And Leo knew that... "The starshower..." he murmured. "The light."  
Phoebe and Piper stared at them, suddenly understanding.  
"But I don't get everything yet..." Phoebe said. "What about the comments of Wyatt?? And what does this have to do with Chris, exactly? What will happen when the star shower takes place, when Chris is born and all??"  
Cole shrugged: "That's what we need to discover now... I guess that Wyatt meant that when the sun is defeated by the darkness - that is, when the eclipse takes place - the time to act has come."  
"To act?" Piper asked.  
"To defeat the woman with horns?" Leo shrugged.  
"And what about the rest?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Paige closed the office-door behind her. Mr. Anderson was really a bad kind of human being. She was really glad that she only had to stay there for one week. But she felt pity for the regular secretary.  
Paige sighed and sat down in front of her computer again, starting to write down the dictated letter.  
Suddenly a new window popped up. "You have a new message."  
She opened it and read: _"3.30 pm - floor 20 room 2034 - T.A."  
_Paige smiled. Then she looked at her watch... 2.42pm... She hoped she had time to go there. Not that she was interested in him... she was just curious about how he could be so nice with THAT kind of father... But before that, she had to finish that stupid letter.  
She wrote the lines in a few minutes. It wasn't long, but harsh.  
Suddenly she heard a noise, a very familiar one. 'Like a demon crashing in the locker in the hallway,' Paige thought. She smiled... it was crazy; she seemed to think about demons all the time.  
But then she frowned and looked around. There was nothing to see, nothing that would explain that noise.  
Paige was about to return to the letter when she heard a voice from inside Mr. Anderson's office... and another one!  
But... Mr. Anderson was alone! She knew it, because anybody who wanted to visit him, had to pass by her desk.  
The voices got louder. They seemed to have a hard discussion, nearly a fight.  
Determined, Paige stood up and went over to the door. Then she saw a yellow light, shining through the gap at the bottom of it, for a second.  
Paige opened the door!  
Mr. Anderson sat on his desk, deeply focused on his work, as it seemed. But when he heard her coming in, he looked up. "Miss Matthews?" he asked frowning. "Is the letter ready?"  
"No," Paige said a little insecure. She looked around; everything seemed to be as usual. "I heard some voices," she said, "I thought... well... I wanted to be sure that everything was alright."  
Mr. Anderson shook his head: "Of course it is, as long as you finish that letter, so hurry up... alright?"  
Paige nodded and left his room. There was something wrong, but she wasn't able to put her finger on it...

_

* * *

(Chapter 2 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)_


	3. Chapter 3

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 3**

Angela stood up after they had finished and put the plates and stuff together. Bianca helped her.  
"Oh no," Angela said, "you are pregnant, you don't have to do that."  
Bianca smiled: "I know... but I want to."  
The men watched their wives walk into the kitchen. "Everything's alright?" Chris asked with a low voice.  
Michael grinned. He knew exactly what his friend was talking about. "Yeah..." he said with a sigh, "well... sometimes I wake up still feeling like a hologram, you know... But I'm alright... Thanks to you and your family."  
Chris nodded: "I think that feeling will disappear with the time... Actually I had the same problem the first days after that..." Michael laughed. But Chris kept serious: "What about Angy?"  
"Well..." Michael answered, "she's alright... And I think she has no dreams or anything... That Elder-drug seems to be really good..." Chris grinned about that 'expression'.  
"It was a little weird when she woke up in the hospital. They told her that she was found in a rainy street by a car-driver a few days before, and that she had been in coma since that moment, because of a wound on the head... But nobody could explain to her or me what happened with us the last years or why we didn't grow older..."  
Chris nodded. He could imagine how hard that had to be.  
"You know," his friend went on, "we had visitors from the police and from some UFO-freaks who suggested that we were kidnapped..." Michael couldn't help laughing.  
Chris laughed, too: "That's really weird." After they had calmed down again, he asked: "And they believed your story?"  
"Yeah, I think so... I told them that I was standing in front of the altar during the ceremony, and the next thing I remember is that someone rescued me in the middle of the street."  
"That's so weird," Chris grinned. "It's good that we didn't send all of you back at the same time... Otherwise, it would have been more complicated I think."  
Michael nodded: "Are they all back by now?"  
"Yes, since last week..." Chris answered. "What about your old friends? How did they react?"  
Michael shrugged: "I think they still want to be our friends but... there lie 20 years between us now.. that's a distance that you can only hardly overcome." Chris nodded. "Hey, but I found a new real good friend... surely the best friend in the world," the man added grinning, making the Elder-witch smile. Chris was really gald about that friendship, for him it was an amazing gift.  
For a moment they kept silent. Then, Michael rose to speak again: "What about you? I mean... are you excited about that double-birthday tomorrow?"  
Chris raised his eyes to look at him, as if he had just woken up from a dream. "Yes, well, I'm... I am..." Chris frowned, lowering his eyes. Michael stared at him expectant.  
The conversation about destiny and all that stuff came suddenly to Chris's mind... Fate... the double birthday... the latest demonic attacks... His mom taken to the Magic school without warning him...  
"Chris... Are you ok?" Michael asked, concerned.  
Chris raised his head again: "Yes... Yes... I think." 'The prophecy, the damned prophecy...' He was so convinced by now that there was no destiny, that the future had changed and all, that he did not worry about that prophecy anymore. He thought it would not take place... He wanted to believe that, actually. But suddenly, all the facts around him and his birthday struck him like a ray.  
Michael stood up and went to him: "Man, you're pale, what is it?"  
Chris shook his head, feeling his friend's hand over his shoulder and hearing his worried voice: "It's nothing... I'm ok, I swear..."  
Michael smiled reassuringly: "I'm sorry, dude, but you know perfectly well that I have the superpower of the premonition and I know what you're feeling now..."  
"Empathy," interrupted Chris, smiling weakly.  
"Whatever... You are hiding something from me, and that's not good. Not coming from you..."  
Chris sighed, and took a quick look at the kitchen. The girls were still there.  
"Well... Actually there's a part of my big secret that I forgot to tell you..."  
The damned prophecy, which he never believed... He was going to tell his friend about it now. He was going to tell that however powerful he seemed to be now, that had nothing to do with which was supposed to take place the following day... If that prophecy was true, after all...  
Michael sat down by him, waiting for an explanation.

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe frowned and shook her head after a pause: "No... that cannot be... Don't forget Wyatt's entry... 'A woman with horns is not what you think'." Piper smirked at that. Her son was going to be really witty. Phoebe went on: "Maybe this means that we don't need to care about her?"  
Cole looked at them worriedly: "I wouldn't ignore that demon, just because..." Leo agreed.  
Piper sighed: "But what does it mean?That a woman with horns is not what we think, then?? What do we think she is??"  
"A demon?" Leo tried.  
"A woman deceived by her husband?" Phoebe said, trying to make a joke. Cole laughed softly at that remark.  
"Maybe he means that the woman with horns is not the true problem?" Piper asked. "What if she's only bait?? What if something else is happening and this is no more than a distraction?"  
"Now you got a point," Cole said.  
Everyone's look turned worried.  
"Now that makes sense... If we read the last part: 'Ignore the visible, find those that hid.' That fits."  
Leo nodded: "And what about the rest? The big is small the small is big..."  
Phoebe sat down heavily, rubbing her eyes. "I DON'T KNOW! I wish I knew..." she said tiredly.  
Cole wrapped her up with his arms from behind and kissed her neck: "It's ok, we'll find out. I guess we have something now..." Then he raised his eyes towards the others: "What if we try to find the demon, and make her speak? She should know who is giving the orders, who's the one who hides... Or 'that hid'."

°°°°°°°°°°

It was 3.32 pm. Paige knocked at room number 2034.  
"Yeah," she heard from inside and opened slowly the door.  
Travor Anderson sat behind a small desk which was completely packed up with papers. He smiled when Paige went in. "Miss Matthews, nice to see you again," he said.  
He offered her a seat on another little table located in the corner. There were a lot of cookies and coffee already prepared for her visit.  
She smiled: "Thanks very much, Mr. Anderson... but please, call me Paige."  
He nodded: "Alright, so you call me Travor."  
"Ok," Paige answered shyly. Then she took a cookie. They were good... 'But Piper's are better,' she thought. Then she smiled.  
"What?" he asked.  
Paige shook her head: "Nothing..."  
Travor grinned: "You're trying to figure out how I could be the son of my dad, right?"  
"In a way..." she answered smiling. He was really kind, the complete opposite of his father.  
He still grinned: "Well... actually I don't know... My dad wasn't always that freaky... It's just a few years since he became so... unfriendly... I don't know what happened."  
Paige frowned: "A few years? Was there something special in those years?"  
"Not that I know..." he said shaking his head.  
'That's mysterious,' she thought, but that wasn't the time to deal with that, so she smiled and took another cookie.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris looked at his friend and sighed: "It's a little difficult... I don't know..."  
"Chris," Michael interrupted him, "I thought you'd decided that I'm trustworthy... And we are friends, right... and friends talk about everything... I mean, what could be worse than all that stuff I already know?"  
Chris nodded slowly. He knew Michael wouldn't change his mind about him... He already knew every little dirty detail about his past life... But that was something about the future... about the very near future.  
"Alright," he said, looking again at the kitchen where the women were still busy. "There is a prophecy... a demonic one... It's about me and... me... It says that the day mini-me is born..." He broke up.  
Michael frowned: "Ok, whatever it is, I can take it... So please, tell me!"  
"It says that when those two lives collide, the world will tremble under a great power... whatever... whatever that means," Chris said focusing on his friend.  
Michael took a deep breath. "Wow," he muttered.  
"Now you know..." Chris said with a sigh.  
His friend looked to his feet. That was really scary... But anyway, it was Chris they were talking about... The Chris who had saved him and all the others, the Chris who would have given his life for them if it had been necessary... 'It can't be that bad...,' he thought. And then he said it: "That must mean something different... It's demonic, you said... Well, maybe you're going to kill every demon tomorrow..."  
Chris grinned relieved. Michael was amazing... it seemed that nothing could make him worry... "Man, I hope you're right."  
Michael wanted to reply something, when their wives returned, talking about Bianca's pregnancy.  
"Oh, that's so cute... I mean, giving up your work just to be a mommy... I hope I can do that also, when the time is up for that," Angela said, winking at her husband.  
Chris chuckled: "Yeah man, you should hurry... My daughter surely would like to have another kid around to play..."  
Michael began to laugh heartily.

°°°°°°°°°°

While the sisters were busy trying to scry for that demon with the ugly horns, Leo went over to Cole, whose eyes lay on Phoebe, watching her full of love. "Are you ok?" Leo asked. He nodded.  
"I... You... I mean... I don't know how to say it..." Leo said searching for the right words.  
Cole turned to face him: "Just say it..."  
Leo looked into his eyes... there was something weird and that made him a little stronger about his theory. He sighed, and then whispered: "You've seen it, too... right?"  
Cole played the innocent: "What do you mean?"  
Leo rolled with his eyes: "You know what I mean... You saw the same things as Phoebe, right? You had a premonition..."  
Cole sighed and looked at his fiancée again. Then he nodded weakly.  
"Does she know?" Leo asked.  
He nodded again. Then he looked at him: "Can't you take it back... that power? I don't want it... and more important, I don't deserve it."  
Leo smiled: "Oh no Cole... After all the things you have done, you really deserve it!"  
"But can you remember what happened the last time I got some little powers? It went completely wrong! I'm just afraid that... that I could lose myself again..." he whispered harshly.  
Leo wanted to answer something... to assure him that he would handle it well this time... But he was interrupted.  
"Hey, I got her!" Phoebe exclaimed at that moment.  
The others in the room turned to stare at Phoebe expectantly: "And?? Where is she??"  
Phoebe narrowed her eyes close to the map.  
Piper murmured something: "I can't believe it..."  
"What??" said the two men at the same time.  
The sisters raised their faces and answered: "She's at the manor!"  
Piper stood up with difficulty and took Leo's hand: "Come on, take me there."  
"What?? No!!" he exclaimed. "You can not fight now. You can not fight any demon, hell! Look at you!! Did you lose any marble?"  
Phoebe chuckled as Piper frowned: "He's right, Piper; don't say he's being overprotective. Just think, what if you give birth today, because of the stress??"  
Piper shrugged indifferently: "Maybe that'd be the solution of our problems..."  
Cole chuckled: "Good attempt, girl... But whatever, someone should go... And also warn Paige and Chris. They could decide to go back and they would not be ready for an attack."  
Leo nodded: "I'll go to the manor. The demon doesn't really seem that dangerous..."  
"I'll go with you..." Phoebe said, pushing her sister to the sofa again, and taking Leo's hand.  
Cole was pacing in front of the shelves, pensive. "Wait a minute..." he said, scratching his chin. "Don't you think it's really weird that the demon is at the manor?? What is she doing there??"  
"Trying to kill us, of course..." Piper said in a sarcastic tone.  
Cole shook his head: "We said that probably she's playing bait. If she's at the manor, she should know by now that we're not there... what is she doing then?"  
"Waiting for us..." Phoebe answered, tiredly.  
Leo nodded: "Waiting for us... To take the bait. She wants to keep us distracted from something."  
Cole nodded, but Phoebe rolled her eyes tiredly: "You said we needed to find her, so that we can make her speak."  
"But it's clear she's walking a step before us. So we need to gain advantage," Cole added.  
"But how?" the two sisters asked at the same time.  
"Easy... Make her believe that we fell into the trap... Just, she will fall in ours. She expects us to go because she, or her boss, doesn't want us somewhere else. Ok... Let's send her the Charmed Ones. Do you have any whitelighter ready to glamour?" he asked, smiling. Leo nodded slowly. He was getting his point.  
"So... You want to send the faked Charmed Ones there?? And...? Where are we supposed NOT to be then?"  
Cole shrugged: "We should just hide, and wait... Maybe she'll end up talking. Or maybe we'll just discover something. If they want us to be distracted, it is because otherwise, if we are here, we would be able to discover it by ourselves..."  
"I think he's right..." Piper said. "So... What do you think?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Bianca looked happily at her husband. He was really relaxed at that moment. And she began to realise that that kind of friendship between him and Michael was exactly what Chris needed. She was really happy for them.  
Chris and Michael were sitting together, joking all the time, making the women laugh even more.  
Then, Michael suddenly beat his forehead with his hand. "Oh, I'm so stupid!" he exclaimed. The others looked at him without understanding. But Michael turned to Chris looking really disappointed: "I'm sorry, I can't come tomorrow to paint the walls in the baby-room... I have to visit my mother-in-law... I'm sorry."  
Chris frowned. What the hell was his friend talking about? Bianca looked from Chris to Michael and back to Chris. 'Is it possible that he has invited him for tomorrow? For the day his little-self will be born?' Angela looked from one to the other, deep in her thoughts.  
"I don't..." Chris started to speak.  
But Michael interrupted him: "I'm truly sorry..." Chris shook his head, but before he could answer something, he was interrupted again.  
"Oh, no, Michael... Go!... Visit him!... Mom will understand it, I'm sure..." Angela said. And then quickly added: "And I know you don't like those visits anyway..."  
He smiled at her and then nodded: "Thanks honey, I owe you something."  
"No, you don't..." she said, and then turned to their guests: "I think we should go outside... it's such a wonderful summerday."  
Her husband and Bianca agreed, so they got up and walked outside.  
Chris held Michael back for a moment and whispered: "Are you crazy? What do you think you're doing?"  
"I'll give some company to a friend who will surely need it... What's wrong with that?" Michael replied grinning.  
"It's dangerous!" Chris's voice sounded really worried. He couldn't let it his friend put himself in such a danger.  
But Michael held on to his opinion: "I'll come... And I'll stay as long as you need a friend... I'm not afraid... not because of you!" Then he followed the others to the garden.  
Chris stood in the living-room for a moment, without moving. 'He's crazy,' he thought. But he knew he couldn't stop him. Michael amazingly believed in Chris without any little doubt...

°°°°°°°°°°

Somewhere at a bright lightened place a man walked down some stairs.  
He was deeply in his thoughts, not noticing the people around him in that clean place. But suddenly someone stepped in his way.  
"Odin, I have to talk to you," Silas said with a worried voice.  
The other Elder rolled his eyes: "What's wrong, my friend?"  
"You know it very well..."  
Odin sighed and put his arm around Silas, leading him to a calmer place of the 'Elder-world'. They sat down on a little wall surrounding a little fountain.  
"So what are you worried about?" Odin asked.  
Silas shook his head: "You know better. There is something going on tomorrow... I can feel it... The solar eclipse and the star shower on ONE day... There is something very wrong growing up out there... Something very evil..."  
Odin just nodded. He had felt all that on his own... something dark was growing, down there in the world... But he couldn't put his finger on it.  
"I'm, afraid..." Silas went on, "it could be about Christopher...? I mean... It's his day of birth..."  
Odin looked at him narrowing his eyes. "NO!" he said with a voice that allowed no other opinion. And then he added a little more quietly: "Don't tell anyone about your worries... Our young Elder has enough problems with his own life... He doesn't need a bunch of worried Elders running behind him." Silas nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

The man was looking at a well full of dirty water. He was shaking his head: "Come on..." he mumbled. "Do something, just do something and they'll come."  
"What's going on?" a voice asked behind him.  
The man turned surprised to face the beautiful woman that was staring at the well wonderingly. He sighed: "Nothing... That's the problem." He moved aside so that she could also take a look.  
The girl frowned: "Is she just there, waiting?"  
The man shrugged: "Well, there's no one in the house. She's a low-level demon; she doesn't really care about these girls. The only thing she wants is the reward..."  
"More power..." she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Come on... Does she know how much power there's in that manor??"  
The man narrowed his eyes a little bit, trying to get something out of the image he was seeing. The ugly demon with horns was just there, in the middle of the hall, standing, looking around her, a bit confused.  
"Couldn't you have met a more stupid demon??" the woman asked, impatient.  
"Hush... She can do nothing actually. But I don't understand why they're not coming. I mean... I thought they would have the house protected, or they would set an alarm or something... In case none of them is there, and they get under attack..."  
The woman was really impatient: "We have to do it, Jonathan. Tomorrow is the day. And you know it. All those people are waiting for us to do it. We promised them that tomorrow the Lord of Darkness would send a sign."  
The man smirked: "And there will be one... Tomorrow... Darkness will defeat Light... Satan will inherit his throne."  
Both of them smiled. They had a great bunch of followers, Satan's worshippers. It was funny that the police of San Francisco, after so many years, hadn't been able to find out about them, they had a good cover... Waterbe - their leader - was the owner of the most important and smartest companies in the city. When they found out... It would be too late.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris looked at his watch and sighed. It was already 6 pm. "I think it's time to go," he said with a sad voice. He really didn't want to go, but they should... He knew they should... There were a lot of things to deal with at home. Bianca agreed.  
"Well, that's really sad," Michael said.  
Chris grinned: "Of course, man!"  
"But... you'll visit us again, someday, promise us..." Angela said.  
"Of course we will... and you have to visit us also some day," Bianca said. It wasn't only that Michael and her husband were so good friends: She also liked the woman a lot.  
"Surely we would like to come!" Angela replied and Michael nodded energetically.  
Then, they stood up and went to the hallway to pick up their jackets.  
"Thanks very much for the delicious dinner," Chris said to Angela while Michael helped Bianca into her cardigan.  
"It was a pleasure for me, to have you here," she replied.  
"No, it was our pleasure," Bianca protested with a smile. The girls chuckled.  
Michael looked at Chris very serious: "See you tomorrow," he said and hugged him. Chris nodded.  
"Wait," Angela exclaimed suddenly.  
Michael turned to her, surprised. "What is it, Angy?" he asked.  
"Nothing, and I'm not even sure if our friends would like it, but..."  
"But what?" asked Bianca.  
"Well... I thought... we have only one car, and I want to get to my mom very early tomorrow... and at that hour I don't like to go by bus, you know..."  
"And?" Michael asked. "So I'll take the bus to Chris, no problem..."  
"Yeah, but..." she hesitated a little, "well... if you like, and Chris and Bianca agree, you could go with them, now... And I'll pick you up tomorrow evening."  
Bianca was speechless. She was sure her husband would protest. Michael didn't know what to say either. He was really surprised by this offer of his wife.  
Chris just looked at his friend for a second. He knew why Michael wanted to come, and he knew that it was a good idea... from some point of view. And in a way, he also wanted him to be there. Maybe it could be really useful to have someone around with such an easy look on those complicated things. So he smiled: "Of course, you can do that, if you like... And you know, my family likes you too... We will find a place for you to sleep, for sure."  
Bianca looked at Chris, with her mouth wide open, but she said nothing. He made that decision, and she wouldn't be able to change his mind. At least not without making Angy notice that there was more about them than what she knew.  
"Alright," Michael said running up the stairs, "give me five minutes, to grasp some things."  
It took only three till he was back. He said goodbye to his wife with a long kiss. Then he followed Chris and Bianca down the street. They had told Angela that they had parked their car on the next road.  
After they were out of sight, Bianca turned to Chris: "Honey, that's crazy... How can you let him visit us on such a day?"  
Chris rolled his eyes: "Forgotten? He invited himself on his own..." Then, with a look at his friend, he added: "And I think it's a good idea anyway."  
Michael grinned: "Yeah, when all those things about that prophecy really happen, whatever the consequences may be, Chris could need a friend, I thought." Chris wanted to stop him from saying that, but it was too late.  
Bianca turned pale. "WHAT?" she yelled. She had never thought about that again since their marriage.  
"I'm sorry; I couldn't talk to you about that... I just realised that all this could be part of that prophecy-stuff, when you were in the kitchen with Angy." He sighed: "I'm really sorry, sweetie." She nodded and then she hugged him, suddenly really afraid to lose him again.  
Michael looked at them for a moment. He felt sorry to have let out such a secret. But how could he have known?  
"Alright," Chris said after he had freed himself from her hug, "I think we should talk to my parents about that." Bianca nodded.  
Then Chris turned to Michael: "Are you ready for a trip to the magic school?"  
"Only if you show me your real apartment!" his friend answered grinning. Chris nodded and Michael took his hand.

°°°°°°°°°°

Paige was again sitting at her desk, doing overtime, when Mr. Anderson opened his office door again. "Miss Matthews, dictation," he ordered.  
Paige sighed and followed him into his office. In front of his desk she sat down, paper and pencil ready to write.  
Mr. Anderson cleared his throat; then, he started without any other comment: "To Mr. Waterbe Senior. I'm very pleased to tell you that all the preparations are nearly completed. We've got the room ready..."  
Paige frowned. 'The room?' she thought.  
"... and also most of the equipment you ordered has arrived. The missing things will be there by time, tomorrow at 11.36 am."  
"11.36?" Paige asked wondering about that exactitude of time.  
"You should not ask, you should write," Mr. Anderson repeated angrily. Then, he went on: "I hope you are satisfied with this news. You know how to contact me. C.A."  
Paige wondered what the "C" would stand for. But she didn't dare to ask.  
"That's all, Miss Matthews, I want you to finish it within the next ten minutes... It's urgent."  
Paige nodded and left the room. Outside she looked at the text again. 'That's mysterious,' she thought.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper looked at her double. "Are you sure about what you have to do?" she asked. The whitelighter-Piper nodded, same as the other two.  
"Alright," Leo said, "you should go now, good luck." The three whitelighters nodded and orbed out.  
Phoebe sighed. Cole pulled her near and hugged her. "Everything will be alright," he whispered making her smile a little.  
At that moment again, bluish orbing lights filled the room. When Chris, Bianca and Michael materialised, Piper looked at her son with a little panic, but then she realised how stupid that was at that moment, and relaxed.  
Anyway, Chris had noticed her look and that proved him that his thoughts about the prophecy were right.  
Then, the others noticed Michael. "What is he doing here?" Leo asked frowning.  
"Well..." Chris said awkwardly...

_

* * *

(Chapter 3 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	4. Chapter 4

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 4**

The woman was walking through the manor calmly, looking at every ornament, touching every object. Her bosses had failed, it was clear... No one was to come.  
Suddenly, the three sisters appeared in front of her. She didn't wait for long, and immediately threw an energy ball at them.  
Paige, who was in the middle, orbed her sisters to avoid the impact, and reappeared at the back of the demon. Then, Phoebe hit her on the legs, making her fall down.  
"What are you doing in our house!"  
The demon shivered. Now, the oldest sister would use her power to make her explode... But nothing happened. At least, not what she was waiting for.  
Another kick of Phoebe's reached her on her side.  
The demon stood up quickly, guessing that, now, Piper would try to freeze her, but again, this didn't happen!  
So she threw another ball to the girls, who just ducked. It was really weird...  
Paige orbed behind her and knocked her on the head making her pass out. They needed her to get the information that Leo and the true sisters needed.  
The three whitelighters looked at each other and smiled, but said nothing. Leo had said very clearly that they shouldn't talk much, because probably someone was watching them.

°°°°°°°°°°

The man jumped as he watched the three sisters appearing in the manor.  
"They finally showed up!" he exclaimed, excited. "Come on, the time has come..." The woman nodded. Then she left.  
He, however, kept on watching what was taking place inside... It was weird, really weird... He had studied the three Charmed Ones for so long... Their behaviour wasn't exactly the usual. He furrowed his brows. Something wasn't working properly...

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo sighed shaking his head: "Ok, ok..." He had heard Michael's explanation, who had decided to tell him why he was there, instead of letting Chris try to find an excuse. "But this wasn't a good moment," Leo glared at Chris... 'Actually, it was a terrible idea. One thing was that he knew about the powers and all that. But a different thing was that he now knew what the school was... a non-magical being in that place! It was madness!'  
Chris lowered his eyes but said nothing, and Bianca pressed his arm warmingly: "Leo... I know what you're thinking about... But probably this was the best thing to do."  
Michael nodded: "I can help."  
Phoebe chuckled silently, and Cole frowned. "Of course you can... We need a new baby-sitter. The old one is going to resign right now!" he said jokingly.  
The others laughed at the sight of Michael's confused look.  
"We'll explain later..." Chris murmured smiling. Then he turned to his mother. "What's going on here??"  
Piper sighed, and shrugged: "Actually, that's what we'd like to know..."  
Leo nodded: "I wonder what is happening in the manor now." He was worried because nothing had actually happened since the whitelighters left. And according to Cole, if that demon was a distraction, then there should be something bigger taking place...

°°°°°°°°°°

When Paige entered the office of Mr. Anderson again, he was still sitting on his desk.  
"I've finished the letter," she said, approaching him.  
Mr. Anderson looked up, took the letter, signed it and folded it twice times.  
Then he returned it to Paige: "Put it into the black box on your desk. It will be picked up later. And then leave... I've already paid you enough over time."  
Paige wanted to answer something, but Mr. Anderson was already busy again, reading his papers. He just said: "That's all Miss Matthews."  
Paige nodded. "Good evening, Mr. Anderson," she said. Then, she left the room.  
After she had closed the door behind her, she frowned again. "Weird," she whispered to herself.  
Then, she went over to her desk, put the folded letter into the box, grasped her bag and left.  
But short before she reached the elevator she turned around. 'Why not having a look on who is taking this letter,' she thought smiling and went back to hide behind a big bottled plant in a corner.

°°°°°°°°°°

"I didn't mean at home, dad... I mean... what about..." he couldn't speak out that sentence, "... you know what I mean."  
Leo looked at Piper. The witch had lowered her eyes to the ground. She couldn't look at her son... not now... She couldn't help it, but she was afraid... afraid of what would happen.  
While Chris sighed, Michael looked from one to the other. "Ok," he said then, sounding a little angry, "this is not right, don't you see that? It's not fair."  
"Mike, I..." Chris wanted to stop him.  
"No, Chris," his friend replied and then turned to the others again, "you're treating him like an illness... as if he's a dangerous thing..."  
Piper looked at Leo, helpless and realising that Chris already knew what was going on, while Michael went on.  
"Chris has done a lot of great and brave things... He has saved the whole world! I can't really believe that you - his parents - could think even for one second that this damned prophecy means that!!!"  
"Mike, it's enough," Chris said with a little harsh voice. He couldn't be angry at his parents, because he himself was afraid.  
But Piper shook her head: "I think it has been a good idea to bring you here, Michael... Cause you're damn right."  
Then she stood up, went over to Chris and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry," she whispered to his ear.  
"Never mind," Chris replied, returning her hug.  
"Alright," Phoebe said, looking at her watch. "Actually we can only wait... So... Leo, take Paige from her work, before she goes home and spoils our plan." The Elder nodded.  
Then Phoebe turned to Chris: "And you should make a little tour through the school, with Mike... I know he's really excited about that." Then, she winked at Michael making him blush.  
"I'll go with you," Cole said, "I think I need to walk a little, too."  
Meanwhile Bianca went to sit down next to Phoebe: "And we three girls do some more research..." The sisters nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

"It's really impressing," Michael remarked. The three men were walking down the grand hallway.  
Suddenly Cole stopped them. "It's time," he said, pushing Chris and Michael gently to the wall. Seconds later the doors flushed open and hundreds of witches from every age streamed down the way. A noise of happy chucklings and joyful laughter filled the air.  
"The last lesson for this school-year is over," Cole explained.  
Michael just nodded, completely astonished. "So many witches," he muttered.  
Chris grinned: "Outside in the world, there are a lot more than that."  
Michael just nodded.  
"Hey!" they suddenly heard a voice. Turning around, they were facing Tom.  
"You're Mike, right?" he asked.  
Michael nodded again, too impressed by all that, to say something.  
"TOM!" they then heard the voice of a girl.  
The young witch turned around and then back to his friends: "I'm sorry, I have to go... finally got a date with Veronica!" Then, he winked to them and went to the girl. Meanwhile the hallway emptied.  
"By the way..." Chris turned to Cole, "you don't really plan to quit baby sitting... do you?"  
Cole grinned: "Never! I really love doing that... But if the other sisters find out... maybe they will want me to be involved."  
"I don't think so," Chris replied smiling.  
"How funny..." he said, grinning about his nephew's comment. "By the way, you were right."  
"About what?"  
Cole sighed: "I had a premonition today... same as Phoebe... by the way, she's really excited about the fact that I have the same power as her... and..."  
"What??? Stop, stop, stop!" Chris raised his hands to stop him. "You had a premonition? About what?"  
Cole looked at him with sad eyes: "Can't you imagine?"  
"Now I understand why they are so worried." Chris swallowed: "What have you seen?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Paige was still hiding, when Leo orbed to her side. She startled: "Man... don't scare me that way!"  
When the Elder noticed that she was hiding, he frowned: "What are you doing here?"  
"Investigations," she replied and pulled him behind the plant too.  
Leo wanted to say something, but Paige stopped him: "Shhh..."  
She pointed at her desk... and the man next to it. Leo's blood froze. The man picked up that folded letter.  
"Oh my God..." Paige muttered.  
Then the darklighter disappeared.  
"What the..." Leo was shocked. "Don't tell me that you're still getting magic-related jobs!"  
Paige shrugged as she stood up and dusted her skirt. "It seems that this is my destiny. Whenever I try to get a job, a normal job, I always end up facing magic..."  
Leo stood up, frowning. "Is this the only demonic activity you saw here?"  
Paige shook her head: "Actually, my boss behaves in a very weird way... And not long ago I was working and I heard something really... strange!" Leo looked at her, interested. "There was a kind of fight in his office, and lots of voices crying and talking loud, like in the middle of an argument... But then I went in, and he was just sitting on his desk, writing something calmly!"  
"Weird..." Leo muttered, pensive. Then he took her arm resolutely: "Look, I think we can come back to this later... Now we're having other problems to deal with in the magic school."  
Paige looked at him wonderingly, as Leo followed: "Phoebe had a vision... A bright light wrapping our Chris and the newly-born one up... I'm afraid we're facing the prophecy, remember?"  
Paige frowned. "Of course I remember, but... Now you mention a bright light, that's something I saw in his office too..." She shrugged again: "Never mind, let's go. We'll take care of this later." Leo nodded, and they both orbed to the magic school.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper sighed when she sat down next to the two women.  
"Oh," Phoebe said suddenly, "Bianca honey, I know this is all weird but you don't have to feel that..."  
"Wait!" Bianca said frowning. "You get feelings from me? But I took that blocking potion!"  
Piper looked from one to the other. Then, she smiled. "Maybe it's Hope's emotions you get, Phoebe," she explained her thoughts. "Maybe she's worried about her dad, too."  
Phoebe nodded: "That's possible... but it's not about her dad... she's scared about being born..."  
The Phoenix looked at her confused: "You mean...?" Phoebe nodded.  
"I think you should talk to her, when you get the chance..." Piper suggested. They all knew that the little girl showed up from time to time, always making her parents freak out a little.  
Bianca just nodded. Then she frowned: "Maybe it's because of her powers... Chris talked to Odin about it, and they believe that this out-of-time-thing will turn to be weaker when she's born."  
"What?" Phoebe asked surprised. "Why?"  
"They believe that if she's really with her family, she will get used to this time," Bianca explained. The sisters nodded. That was, at least, logical.  
"Ok, honey," Piper said, "when she visits you the next time, you should tell her that we can't wait to hold her in our arms..."  
"Will you scare her a little more?" Phoebe asked teasingly, and laughed. Bianca smiled and then nodded at Piper.  
For a moment they kept silent. Then, Phoebe slapped her knees and stood up: "Alright... Time to do some more research... we really need to clarify this whole thing."

°°°°°°°°°°

Cole kept silent.  
"Uncle... don't make me ask you a second time," Chris said with a strange voice. Also Michael looked at the man expectantly.  
"Alright," Cole finally sighed. "I saw... I saw you... and your little self..." he said hesitating, "you were walking over to him, you touched him on the belly, lovingly... and then there was this bright light streaming through everything..."  
Chris frowned.  
"And?" asked Michael.  
Cole shrugged: "That's all."  
Michael shook his head: "Sounds not very dangerous to me..." Chris sighed.  
"I didn't say that it was..." Cole replied, "I just said what I saw... " Chris nodded.  
"Yeah, but why is everyone afraid of that?" Michael asked again.  
"Because of the prophecy," Chris explained with a serious voice.  
But Michael didn't care: "It says nothing clearly, right?"  
Now Cole sighed: "I don't know what about 'the world tremble in awe' is unclear?"  
"Ok, ok," Michael agreed partly, "but it's demonic, right...? So who knows if this world the prophecy deals with is our world? And don't talk about possible consequences of your timetraviling... if that were the reason, it would already have happen... not months after that..."  
Cole looked frowning at Chris: "How much did you tell him? Because he sounds so much like you."  
The Elder-witch just shrugged. "Everything," he muttered with a weak smile.  
Michael patted his shoulders: "Believe me, this will have a good end."  
Chris smiled weakly: "I hope you're right."

°°°°°°°°°°

The three glamored whitelighters, following Leo's advice, had imprisoned the demon in a crystal cage, and started to ask questions to her. They wanted to know what she was looking for there, who her boss was, and what was going on those days in the Underworld, what made them send so many demons after the Charmed Ones and their family.  
The demon clenched her mouth stubbornly, and the whitelighters weren't very sure of how long they would be able to keep on with the farce. They just wished that something would happen soon, so the witches could discover the truth before the demon knew who they really were.  
"Come on, do you really believe you will escape from the Charmed Ones? We can kill you slowly and painfully, or we can just vanquish you with a potion. Your choice. We only want you to tell us what you were doing here and who sent you!" the Piper-glamored whitelighter exclaimed.  
The demon kept silent, so the whitelighter decided to take a last risk. He raised his hands as Piper used to do, as if he were to blow her up, and finally it worked!  
The demon cried suddenly. "Ok, ok... I'll tell you... But don't kill me please! I never wanted to know anything about you! But they told me to distract you while they did their stuff! I was gonna gain only some more powers..." She explained painfully.  
"Who is "they" and what is "their stuff"? What do you want with Chris?" asked the Phoebe-glamored whitelighter in a cold tone.  
The demon shivered a little. "They... they need the baby! That's all... They need the baby to get the prophecy fulfilled... I don't know who they are, I swear!" she exclaimed.  
The three faked girls looked at each other. The baby... only the baby... Did that mean they didn't need big Chris? Or what? Or worst of all... If they wanted the baby, they wanted Piper, and if they thought Piper was there...  
A woman appeared suddenly, opening the door with a hard noise. She was followed by two darklighters who didn't doubt at throwing their arrows at the faked Phoebe and Paige, who immediately fell down in a terrible agony. The false Piper tried to orb, but the woman approached her and stuck an injection on her neck, that made her pass out.  
One of the darklighters killed the demon without hesitation, as the woman nodded, gravely: "She carried out her function," she said, referring to the demon with horns.  
Of course... she had distracted the Charmed Ones from the true evil... that had attacked them from behind.  
"Come on, shimmer us back to Jonathan."  
The two darklighters nodded, and shimmered her and Piper back to the man who was still looking at the well...  
He turned to look at them, frowning: He hadn't expected this pregnant woman to fight so energetically. He hadn't even expected she would fight at all... Actually, he had thought he would need to keep her sisters as prisoners to trade them for her!

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo and Paige orbed in just when Phoebe stood up in order to start her research.  
"Is everything ok?" Leo asked going to Piper hurriedly, as Paige approached Phoebe in order to help her. Piper nodded. Nothing had happened, even if they were expecting something...  
"What did take you so long?" she asked.  
Paige heard her and turned to look at both of them: "Something demonic in my job... As always."  
Piper was about to answer something, but Leo made a gesture with his hands as to show it was unimportant. "We'll take care about it later... I was just thinking about going to the Sorix lair. Maybe we can find something related to the prophecy there, something we skipped last time..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin was hiding behind his desk and a hill of papers, frowning in concentration. Within their discussion their thoughts returned to the prophecy... They were both sure, that it couldn't be true. There had to be another reason for all that...  
Odin really wanted to help Chris... after all that had happened lately. He had to find something that showed them that the prophecy wasn't so worrying after all... And Silas was with him, too, taking a look at the books in his office. He felt the need to make up things, for all that had happened.  
"Nothing..." Silas said finally, dropping one of the books on the table, and causing a big cloud of dust to fill the air. "Nothing! That prophecy seems faked! What if we're worrying about a lie?" he asked, hopeful.  
Odin shook his head. No... It wasn't faked... Suddenly, one of the papers that he had on the table, and that had flew with the thud, fell down on his knees.  
"...The theory says that everyone has a twin somewhere out there..." he read, and frowned.  
"Have you ever heard something about this?" he asked Silas, who shook his head.

°°°°°°°°°°

The young man nodded: "I'll be there, Mr. Waterbe." He grinned.  
Mr. Waterbe stared at him gravely: "This is very important, young man... Don't forget it!"  
The man nodded again and sighed. Then he left the office and walked back to his hotel.  
What the hell were all those people doing?? Did they believe they could give him orders? But he had to accept them for now... Anyway, if what they said was true... the next day would be awesome!  
Suddenly a man waved his hand in front of him, very smiley.  
"Hey Chris! How are you doing?"  
The young man frowned: "How do you know my name?"  
Darryl opened his mouth, shocked. Then he laughed nervously: "No kiddin' please... Are you ok, by the way, Chris?" His voice sounded concerned. He knew Chris was a bit nervous about his being born the following day and all. So Darryl patted his shoulder: "You'll see, everything will be fine tomorrow!"  
He could feel how the young man to whom he had called Chris stiffened, but he decided to ignore it.  
"Ok... I need to go. Have a rest, man!" he said and then left.  
Cristóbal dusted his shoulder uncomfortable. Who the hell was that guy? He shook his head.  
A few minutes later he arrived at the hotel room. He missed his lair in the Underworld, but these people wanted him to be easy to find, so he just left the Underworld for a couple of days.  
'It will be worth it,' he smiled. Cristóbal, the son of a demon and of a Spanish human being... He'd be very powerful in 24 hours.

_

* * *

(Chapter 4 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)_


	5. Chapter 5

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 5**

"Twins and doubles...Weird theory... All these numbers have some strange meaning but... I don't get why this is important now," Silas said.  
But Odin had a feeling: "This paper came to me for something... There must be some connection... Look: It says we all have a twin, who is exactly the opposite, so my twin should be a demon. Besides, he should be 23 years older or younger than me. And I don't know him, but he's related to me through four people... Interesting."  
"A game for kids..." Silas remarked.  
But Odin's eyes were brightening: "Very interesting actually... Chris will be born tomorrow... and the old Chris will turn 23."  
"And??"  
"Isn't it obvious? Chris is not the twin of himself. He's here but he shouldn't be... Therefore, there's someone who is the spitting image of big Chris in this time... and they're in the same age... But if Chris is an Elder, this man must be..."  
"A demon," finished Silas.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper turned to Leo: "I don't think there is anything useful left at the temple... But... Maybe you should go and have a look on something else?"  
"On what?" he asked without understanding.  
"On the whitelighters at the manor," his wife explained. "That whole thing takes too long... and at least you're my husband... it's not unusual that you orb there and look for me."  
"Good idea," Phoebe agreed.  
Leo nodded. With a sigh, he disappeared in bluish orbing lights.  
Bianca shook her head, closing the book on her lap: "I can't believe that we're not able to find anything to prove that all this is NOT the end of everything... I mean... you know what I mean."  
Paige placed her arms around her: "We will... I'm sure that this isn't the end at all..."  
Bianca nodded, smiling thankful. Then she touched her womb and thought: 'You would tell us if something is wrong, right?' As if Hope had heard her, she started boxing a little.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris, Michael and Cole kept walking through the corridors of the school. The non-witch was really impressed by everything, especially the laboratory with those thousands of ingredients. 'Awesome,' he thought, 'unbelievable.'  
He couldn't help wondering how such incredibly witches with so much power could be afraid of a damned little prophecy.  
Finally, the three friends reached Chris's little apartment. The Elder-witch let them in.  
"Wow, it's small..." Michael exclaimed surprised.  
Cole grinned: "Well, we told them to choose every room they wanted to make their home... but..."  
"We like it that way," Chris explained grinning, "so small... so close... so near... you know?"  
"So intimate..." Cole replied, making the others laugh.  
"Yeah, definitely," Chris agreed when they finally sat down.  
"Well... how does this premonition-thing work?" Michael asked after a while.  
"Don't look at me!" Cole exclaimed shrugging.  
"It's when you touch something or someone, you get a kind of vision about the nearer future related to that 'object'... it 's like a flashback, only into the other direction," Chris tried to explain.  
"But you don't see those 'flashforwards' all the time, right?"  
Chris and Cole laughed heartily about that term. "Mike, you're incredible," Chris exclaimed. Michael laughed, too. At least he was able to make his friend relax a little, and that was good.  
But then, Chris turned serious again. "I got an idea!"  
"What?" Cole asked. He had seen that special something in his nephew's eyes.  
"You got the premonition with mom... or mini-me... So just try again... with me!"  
"WHAT?" Cole exclaimed. "No... NO! One time was really enough for one day! So NO!"  
"Uncle, please!" Chris begged.  
"Maybe you'll get it clearer this time," Michael suggested.  
Cole kept shaking his head.  
"Please uncle..." Chris said again, but it was more a whisper.  
Finally, Cole nodded: "But how?"  
Chris shrugged: "Just take my hands and relax... and then we'll see what happens."

°°°°°°°°°°

When Darryl walked through the hallway to the exit, he saw another familiar face entering the big business-building.  
The young man saw him too, and went over to him. "Hey, Detective Morris, nice to meet you!"  
Darryl frowned; then, he smiled: "Tom, right?" The witch nodded; then he introduced Veronica.  
"So, what are you doing here? If you want to meet Chris, he's..." Darryl asked.  
Veronica answered quickly: "Well... we only want to pick up some things for my dad... he's working at the print-center and he told us to get some stuff for him."  
"Wait... Chris?" Tom asked.  
Darryl nodded: "Yeah... I saw him a few minutes ago, up there in the Waterbe offices..."  
Tom looked at Veronica who nodded. Then he turned to Darryl again: "Are you sure it was him? 'Cause actually he's at the school, as far as we know... and he was there for the last half an hour."  
Darryl raised his eyebrows. "That's weird."

°°°°°°°°°°

Cole sighed. He really didn't want to do that, but he wasn't able to say 'NO' to that man... not to him. So he reached out and Chris put his hands on his. With another sigh, the witch closed his eyes.  
Michael and Chris observed Cole curious. For a moment nothing happened. But then... suddenly, Cole winced.  
Then, he opened his eyes again, looking scared. The next second Cole jumped up, ran to the bathroom and vomited into the toilette.  
Michael looked at the Elder-witch shocked. "Don't worry," Chris explained, "premonitions are like a ride on a rollercoaster... but he will get used to that feeling, he only needs a little time." His friend nodded.  
When Cole returned a few minutes later, he looked still a little pale.  
"I'm sorry," Chris said.  
Cole shook his head: "Don't... 'Cause it was at least a good idea."  
"Why?" Michael asked.  
But Chris saw the answer in his eyes: "What have you seen?"  
Cole sighed: "You... and you!"  
The Elder-witch frowned: "You mean me, and mini-me?"  
His uncle shook his head: "No, I mean I saw you... fighting... with you! Everything was dark... and... yeah... your little version was also there... screaming, like babies do."  
"But what can that mean?" Chris asked confused, more to himself.  
Michael shrugged: "It seems there are more than two Chrises in this world."

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. Two and a half hours left till midnight... only two and a half...  
"I think we should turn back to the riddle again," Piper remarked.  
Paige looked surprised but then she understood. "Wyatt?" she asked. The others just nodded. "Why didn't you tell me that a little earlier?"  
"Sorry," Phoebe muttered, handing over the copy of the entry to her.  
Paige read it frowning. Then, her eyes opened widely... "Oh, shit," she exclaimed."  
"What?" asked Phoebe not understanding her behaviour.  
"Mr. Waterbe," muttered her sister.  
"What?" asked Phoebe again, while Piper and Bianca looked at her, frowning.  
But before the youngest sister could answer, bluish lights filled the room, when Odin and Silas orbed in, and also Leo returned, with two of the whitelighters, at the same time.  
"Woah... why do you always have to scare us," Piper exclaimed after she had jumped up. She really looked a little pale.  
At that moment also Chris entered the library. He had promised to keep Cole's secret, so now they needed the help of his aunt. "Phoebe, need to talk to you in private," he said before noticing the Elders. Then he turned to them and asked: "What are you doing here?"  
"Well... we found something which is very..." Odin couldn't say anything else.  
Suddenly Piper yelled in pain holding her womb.  
"Oh my God," nearly everyone exclaimed at the same time.  
"What happened?" Leo asked while he helped her sit down again.  
"I don't know..." she muttered, paler every second. She had had a weird feeling, like being stabbed... it hurt like hell.  
Chris stood there, paralysed for a moment. 'He was right,' he thought, 'Wyatt wasn't joking!' Not the good one, HIS Wyatt... "She needs to go to the hospital!" Chris exclaimed all of a sudden.  
"What?" Leo asked. "You're crazy."  
"Please dad... She needs to... Please..." he begged with fear in his voice, "I know she has to go there... I know it, I was born in a hospital in my time..."  
"But..." Leo didn't understand why his son was so freaking out all of a sudden.  
"Dad... please... Wyatt... my Wyatt, when we were younger... he told me once that she nearly..."  
His father turned pale as a sheet of paper. Then he nodded, took her hand and orbed with her away.  
The two whitelighters that Leo had just healed in the manor had kept aside, staring at the scene worriedly. They had many things to tell them. Actually, one of them was that their friend was in danger, but they seemed to have forgotten about it, and about all their worries except one: Piper and the baby.  
Cole and Michael were trying to calm Chris down, and Phoebe and Paige did exactly the same thing with Bianca, as Odin and Silas observed them, in silence.  
"If you knew this was gonna happen, you don't need to worry, Chris..." Michael muttered, a little bit worried himself. He had tried hard, but all the stuff of the timetravel consequences had been too much for him to assimilate, and he couldn't be sure that he was right. That the future hadn't changed... Or that little Chris's death wouldn't be going to affect his friend.  
But Cole immediately supported him: "Yeah, you knew that your mother would be in hospital for your birth, so don't worry. She'll be fine; we did what had to be done."  
Chris nodded, but said: "Yes, but in that timeline, we didn't have to worry about any stupid prophecy about my little self and me, that's for sure."  
At that point, Odin and one of the whitelighters cleared their throats. All the faces turned to look at them. "Our fellow-whitelighter, who was faking Piper, has been caught. It won't take them much time to realise he's not your mother..." the latter said.  
Odin and Silas looked at each other. They had thought their information was important, but maybe it wasn't so much, should they tell them about the theory?? Of course, Silas had insisted it was crap. It was just a stupid theory. But Odin had that feeling...

°°°°°°°°°°

Jonathan stared at the unconscious body of the false Piper, which was lying on the floor.  
"Don't you think this is weird? A woman who is about to give birth... fighting? She should have stayed behind..." he approached his prisoner, and touched her face, examining her features. She really seemed to be Piper.  
The woman shook her head: "It's weird, of course..." She squatted by her side and touched her womb. After a while, she frowned: "There's no life inside..."  
Jonathan looked deep in her eyes. Was that possible? Wasn't that the woman they were looking for?? Or what if in the fight, the baby had died? He started to panic.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo orbed with Piper to the hospital as close as possible. They materialised behind some bushes. Piper moaned.  
"Hold on, honey," Leo said to her, "we'll be there in a few seconds." He took her in his arms and went as fast as he could.  
When he entered the emergency room, everything there seemed to be a complete mess. Dozens of wounded people were walking around. Also a few policemen were there... 'Maybe an accident,' Leo thought.  
"I need help... My wife... She's pregnant!" he yelled, but the next moment Leo wondered if it would be better to orb to another hospital...  
Anyway... Seconds after he had yelled, a nurse appeared in front of them with a wheelchair. Leo put Piper down while the nurse asked what happened.  
"She's pregnant," Leo explained, "the date of birth should be around tomorrow... everything was fine, but suddenly she felt that pain." At that moment Piper yelled again writhing in pain.  
The nurse nodded and pushed Piper to one of the rooms. Leo followed her.  
The room seemed cold and clean, like usual in hospitals. The nurse helped Piper to the bed.  
"The doctor will come in a few minutes," she said when she was about to leave.  
"But all the people out there?" Leo was afraid that there could be no time for his wife at the end.  
But the nurse just smiled understandingly: "Your wife needs another kind of doctor than those accident-victims. Don't worry, we'll take care of her and the baby." Leo nodded thankful.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok," Paige took over the part of the leader, "we really need to find him... and then I also have something to tell you... But saving him is in the first thing in the row..." She turned to the other whitelighters: "Any idea where he could be?"  
Meanwhile Cole looked questioningly at Chris, who nodded finally even if he had other things in mind at that moment. Then, the Elder-witch turned to Phoebe: "I really need to talk to you... in private."  
Phoebe frowned, but finally nodded. Then they left the library, leaving the others with their discussion. He needed to explain to her what Cole had seen, because that was really important, and Cole still wanted to keep his secret. Or maybe Phoebe was able to see it on her own?  
At the same time, Michael who was still by Cole's side asked him: "Why didn't Chris or Leo helped Piper?"  
Cole sighed: "That's difficult to explain... what happens to Piper is a natural thing... The Elders can heal you, if you're wounded... But they are not God..." Michael nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

Meanwhile Phoebe followed Chris, thinking about what he could want to tell her. It was about Cole, for sure... Otherwise he wouldn't have acted so secretly.  
"Ok..." She stopped after bending a corner. "What happened?"  
"I know he told you about the premonitions," he said plainly.  
Phoebe nodded. "He saw the same things as me..."  
Chris assented: "Right... And what you saw, Phoebe, was when touching mom. But I asked him to touch me too... just to see if he had the same premonition." Phoebe stared at him expectantly. "He didn't," he concluded, gesturing with his hands his surprise.  
"You mean he didn't see anything?" she asked, frowning.  
Chris shook his head energetically: "No, he had a vision. But it was different... And actually, to be honest, I'm not sure if what he saw is reliable; he's not used to this stuff, he might have misunderstood it, or something."  
"Oh Chris... I'm sure you can trust him with this. But ok... Let me see...," his aunt said, taking his hands.  
The premonition came immediately, causing Phoebe to contract her body slightly. After a couple of seconds, she looked at Chris and raised her eyebrow.  
"So?" asked the boy, impatient.  
"Oh... some whitelighter has decided to glamour and turn into you, or I don't understand it..."  
Chris sighed: "You saw two versions of me..."  
Phoebe nodded: "Fighting..." Suddenly she had an idea: "Hey... don't tell me your little self is coming from the future to... fight you!"  
"What?" Chris asked, surprised. He hadn't even thought about it.  
"I don't think so..." a tired voice said behind them.  
Chris and Phoebe turned to look at the man angrily. It was Odin! Had he been listening to them? Everything?  
He approached them both: "That's what I wanted to talk to you about... We have found out something about twins... I mean, doubles of people." He stretched his arm to give them a sheet of paper: "Just take a look at this..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Silas was helping Paige with the scrying. He had tried to sense the whitelighter, but it was not weird that he couldn't. Probably he had been taken to the Underworld.  
Cole and Michael just sat down, and stared at the front, pensive.  
"You witches have a really stressful life..." Michael said.  
Cole chuckled: "Yeah... I guess so."  
"You should be paid, you know?" Cole nodded, smiling.  
The boy was trying to cheer the atmosphere up, but he seemed really worried. He had believed that with people like Chris and Leo, no one could die, they would just heal them all the time, and all would be over.  
"Witches also die, Michael..." Cole said, knowing what he was thinking about.  
The young man just nodded. "But she'll be fine won't she?"  
"Of course she will. Otherwise, I guess we'd have here now Chris's big brother from the future playing with time again."  
"Got him!" Paige exclaimed suddenly. It had been hard but finally, thanks to the union of the scrying and the sensing, they had found the missing whitelighter.

°°°°°°°°°°

Tom was pacing impatient in front of Veronica's father's desk, as he thought about what Darryl had told them. Perhaps he had just thought he had seen Chris... But come on, Darryl was a policeman, he had to be used to recognise people...  
"Is everything alright?" the girl asked once she had found what she was looking for.  
Tom nodded, but kept pensive. "Maybe we should go and check up if that Chris was our Chris, or only someone who looks like him..."  
"Ok..." she said. "But first I need to take this to dad."  
They left the office and went back to the elevator. Tom was still frowning.  
"Keep smiling, you're on TV," Veronica teased him.  
"Huh?" Tom didn't understand her.  
Veronica began to laugh and pointed at the security camera in the corner.  
Tom stopped all of a sudden: "I got a..."  
"What?"  
He turned to her: "...gotta go to the toilette." He smiled in a weird way and went back.  
Five minutes later he returned, took Veronica's arm and hurried to get out of the building.  
"Hey," the young woman protested.  
"You want to go to your dad, right?" Tom started to explain his behaviour when they stepped out to the street.  
"But..." Why was he acting so weird?  
Tom smiled: "And I want to find out if that person was really Chris, so..."  
"So what?"  
Tom smiled and took out a videotape which he had hidden under his shirt. "Thought we could combine both things... you have something to play this, right?" he grinned.  
Veronica's eyes got wide: "You've stolen a security tape?"  
"Yeah... shimmered in, took it, shimmered out... very easy."  
"Man, you are completely crazy," she exclaimed. Tom frowned; he hadn't expected that she could be angry about that, not her... But then, her expression softened. "That's why I like you," she said and suddenly kissed him on his lips.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo was pacing in front of the room where they had brought Piper to, after the doctor had taken the first look on her. Now, he was inside to look after her again.  
Leo felt helpless like never before. "Damn it!" he swore making some other people there turn their heads.  
Then, suddenly the door opened and the doctor stepped out to him.  
"How is she?" Leo asked. "And the baby? Is everything alright?"  
The doctor nodded with a sigh: "For the moment... Yes." Leo sighed a little relieved. The doctor took a deep breath and went on: "But the situation is serious. Your wife has a very small rip in the placenta. Actually she's as fine as possible... But she has to stay in bed, she isn't allowed to move... And... if her state worsens, we'll have to operate. But hopefully that won't be necessary."  
"Oh my God," Leo muttered, close to tears.  
The doctor patted his shoulders: "She'll be fine... We're observing her state all the time. If something happens we will react immediately.  
Leo nodded: "Can I go with her?"  
"Of course... but don't forget, she needs to relax now... that's the most important thing." Leo nodded and entered Piper's room.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Chris! Phoebe!" that was Paige's voice.  
The three went back to the library after they heard the call. "What's up?" the empath asked.  
"We got him," Paige explained. "I think the best is that I go down with you and Chris." Both nodded.  
"Here," Cole said and handed them a few 'all-round-potions'.  
"You're always prepared, humm?" Chris grinned.  
Cole nodded: "You know, I was too often involved in your stuff the last time..."  
"Thanks," Phoebe said and gave him a kiss.  
"Be careful," he said.  
Chris hugged Bianca tightly and then bent down over her womb. "Take care of mommy," he said, making his wife chuckle. Then they orbed away.  
Odin sighed. Then his eyes went over to Michael. He had noticed him for the first time that day. "Oh my... What are you doing here?" Michael looked down, feeling suddenly very uncomfortable.  
"He's here because he's a friend of the family," Bianca explained calmly, but with a voice that allowed no replies. Odin just nodded. He didn't like it, but he didn't like to argue with the Phoenix either.

°°°°°°°°°°

The three orbed directly into the demonic cave, ready to attack anyone who would be there. But there was no one... No demon at least.  
Only the whitelighter in his real shape was there, chained to the wall.  
"Are you ok?" Paige asked. The man nodded.  
"Where are your guards?" Chris wanted to know.  
While they freed him from his chains the whitelighter explained: "When I gained my consciousness back, I was chained here. Short after that, the man who was around here found out that I was not Piper. He said he would attack me with a darklighter arrow if I was not telling the truth. Then he went away. He said they would need the real Piper, the real baby."  
Chris shuddered. Phoebe patted his shoulders: "They will be alright, both of them... she's safe at the hospital." Chris nodded.  
"Yeah, let's go home... there is still something I want to tell you," Paige said. Then they all orbed back to the magic school.  
Seconds after the last pieces of orbing lights had disappeared, Jonathan showed up behind a corner, followed by the young woman who had stood in the back since the whitelighter had woken up.  
"I told you, it would be easy to discover," the man said smiling.  
The woman laughed: "Yeah... they are really stupid... Now we only have to wait till the baby is born... Then, we take it."  
Jonathan agreed: "And when they are united, Satan will return to us again..." Then, both started to laugh.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Tom and Veronica had reached her home, the things had turned to be really unexpected. When they had entered, they had found a little note on the kitchen table.  
_"I'm sorry honey. I had to fly to a meeting in L.A.. Have a good evening, see you tomorrow afternoon. Dad - By the way: Mom has called from Paris, short after the landing. She's fine!"  
_"Seems you have a place where you can do what you like," Tom had said grinning.  
But instead of getting a weird and funny answer, Veronica had just kissed him with passion. For a moment the young man hadn't been sure how to react, but then he had pulled her very close to him, overwhelmed by the feeling of excitement. Allowing her feelings to take over control, Veronica had pushed him gently to her room...  
Now they were lying in her bed hugging each other tightly, still feeling the warmth of the other's body.  
He smiled at her: "You know... I had really never expected that... well not that fast..."  
Veronica chuckled pulling him close to her again: "Neither had I."  
He sighed: "Well... I hope you didn't want only a little fun... I mean..."  
She kissed him again: "Stupid little boy..."  
Tom smiled. Then he whispered to her ear: "I love you."  
Veronica blushed slightly: "I love you too."  
Both began to laugh heartily, holding each other close.  
"Quite funny how the fate deals with our lives sometimes..." Tom thought out loud, "if your dad hadn't had that meeting, we surely would be now sitting in front of your TV watching that surely boring tape..."  
"You're really curious about it, right?"  
Tom shrugged: "Chris is a good friend... And I think that's mysterious... but anyway, it's short before midnight... so that has to wait till tomorrow... I hope, for him, that he's already asleep... or at least that he had fun with his wife..." Again both started to laugh.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo was still on Piper's side. He hadn't left her the last hours. He talked to her, tried to cheer her up, made her feel safe.  
"I'm really excited to meet that little kid, you know?" Leo said. Piper grinned tiredly, but said nothing. "I mean... I can't imagine how he will look like, even if I know the grown-up version," he chuckled.  
Piper just nodded. Then she winced a little for a second.  
"Are you alright?" Leo asked worried.  
"Yeah I think so..." she said with a weak voice.  
Leo frowned. It seemed to him, that she was turning paler and paler.  
Then, one of the computers Piper was connected to, started to beep. Piper didn't react to that, she had closed her eyes... She had lost consciousness.  
The same second Leo had noticed that the door was opened and the doctor and two nurses rushed in. One of them pushed Leo friendly but strictly aside.  
Leo watched them busy running around his wife... and he himself couldn't do anything...  
Then they rolled her bed out of the room. The doctor turned to him: "Alright, it's time to give birth to that baby... I need your agreement for doing that."  
Leo nodded: "Of course... but please help them."  
"They will be fine," he said, looking at his watch, "it seems he will be born right on time..." Then he followed the nurses and Piper to the elevator.  
Leo watched the doors close. He sighed. Then a thought crossed his mind. Something he was thinking about since he knew all that. 'Maybe that was the reason...' he still looked at the closed elevator. He was asking himself all the time how he could have been such a bad father to his youngest son in his time. 'Maybe all that with Wyatt had happened when Piper was in hospital with Chris... Maybe I thought it was Chris's fault that Wyatt turned evil at the end... in that other timeline... because I wasn't home to protect him.' Again he sighed. "This time, no one will get hurt today," he whispered.

_

* * *

(Chapter 5 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x) _


	6. Chapter 6

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 6**

Cristóbal was staring at Jonathan and the sexy woman that stood by him in a suspicious way: "Isn't it too early? Did something go wrong?"  
Jonathan sighed as he walked slowly in his direction: "You don't need to worry, my dear friend..." A weird bright shone in his eyes: "Everything is gonna be alright."  
"Then why the hell did you make me come before the agreed time!" he was glaring at the two simple weak humans in front of him who dared to treat him as if he was a dumb puppet. They'd better not make him mad...  
The woman smiled sweetly: "Because there's a good chance to get the baby... in an easy way. And here you get into the game, Cris."  
The man took the word right after she spoke, while Cristóbal frowned, warily: "The Charmed One, the mother of the Chosen One, is in hospital. It would not be weird if her son goes to see her..." Jonathan smirked watching Cris's face.  
"And YOU, Cris... you will be that son." added the woman, holding Jonathan's hand playfully.

°°°°°°°°°°

It was now raining outside. Something funny, in the month of June... Chris was standing by the window, leaning on the jambs.  
It was a really good thing that they could actually look through the windows in the magic school, and see the streets, whatever street they wanted, but remain invisible for the outsiders.  
The bridge was beautiful, even under the rain... He wished so bad to be there now!! He just needed to go to his spot and think. He couldn't stay there, waiting to see if his mother was alright or not, if they had done something that had changed the future, maybe this time his mother was supposed to die...  
Phoebe was busy again with the scrying map, and Odin and Silas were sitting aside, trying to put all the pieces together, while Cole examined the prophecies and riddles once and again. Paige had gone straight to the hospital to inform Leo about what the whitelighter had said, and this one, together with his fellow-whitelighters, had already left.  
Michael had been working with Cole, but he could not help observing Chris out of the corner of his eye. Finally he sighed and went to him: "Hey...How are you doing?"  
Chris shrugged: "What do you think?"  
"Well, maybe you prefer being alone..." Michael said turning back, when Chris stopped him.  
"No, no, wait, I didn't mean to be rude... It's just... All this stuff. My mom is in danger... I can not just stay here, looking though the window. She might die, and my little self... and there is some freak out there trying to get them both for who-knows-what."  
Michael smiled: "You weren't rude..." He put his hand on Chris's shoulder: "It's understandable. I would have felt the same... But you'll be fine, both of you. These damned doctors are good, man!"  
Chris smiled. He wished he could tell him, but he needed to think about it first... What Odin had said, about the twin... And Cole's and Phoebe's visions... Was that even possible? That theory didn't seem very scientific... Well, yes, it was based on statistics, and all, but even so... Was that relevant? Phoebe had seen him fighting with himself, hell, it was relevant! But... where could he find his twin? An evil one, probably... and according to the theory, it's almost impossible that someone meets his twin! He thought about scrying but what should he use for that?  
"Thanks," he muttered, trying to think about other things. Michael smiled, but felt he should leave him alone, so he joined Cole again.  
Chris kept thinking: 'What if...? No... It wouldn't work. Or would it?' Chris frowned, turning to look at Phoebe. His blood... They were genetic mirrors, they had the same blood, the same genes and all. They were almost clones... so what if they used his blood to find him?  
Chris sighed. Then his mom came back to his mind. 'I should be there,' he thought, even if he knew it was dangerous. He shook his head. Then he went over to the others and turned to his wife: "You should have a rest, sweetie."  
Bianca just smiled: "I'm fine, we are fine don't worry." She knew he had enough things going on in his mind, so he shouldn't worry about her.  
Chris nodded and then turned to Michael again: "It's already late... if you want to take a rest you can go to our apartment."  
"Thanks," Michael said, "but not at this moment." Chris nodded again.  
Then the baby-phone turned on. "Oh, Wyatt is awake... I'll go and look after him," Cole said and left the library.  
Chris was again thinking about his mom. It was useless to try not to think about her. He sighed: "Ok guys, I'll be back in a few minutes." With that he orbed away, leaving the others confused behind.

°°°°°°°°°°

It was half past twelve. When the elevator-door opened, Chris saw Leo and Paige standing close together in the hallway, talking quietly.  
Chris went quickly over to them. "How is she?" he asked, making the others jump in surprise.  
"She's at the operating room," Leo said with a sigh.  
"WHAT?" Chris exclaimed, shocked.  
Leo just nodded. He had no idea what to say. Paige caressed Chris's back: "She'll be alright... and your little version, too."  
Chris looked at her, his eyes filled with fear, desperation... and tears. But then he remembered what Cole and Phoebe had seen. At least his little version would be alright.  
Leo was just looking at Chris for a moment, thinking about those thoughts he had in mind. In a weird way he felt guilty. And he felt pity for Chris. Without any warning he pulled him close and hugged him tightly. He sobbed a little, same as his son.  
"I'm sorry," Chris whispered. He felt guilty, too, because in a way it was him who...  
"No Chris, no... it isn't you fault, so don't say that... and anyway, it's like Paige said, they will be alright."  
They separated from each other a little and Chris looked into his father's eyes. They were sad like his own eyes. Then he finally nodded.  
"Mr. Wyatt!" they suddenly heard a voice calling. They all turned their heads to face a nurse who was holding a baby in her arms. She went closer, put the little boy into his father's arms and said smiling: "Say 'hello' to daddy."  
"Oh my God," Leo said smiling with all parts of his face. He held his son in his arms, he couldn't believe it. He was alright... and so cute.  
Paige started to cry because of the joy. Chris stood beside them, completely overwhelmed and not able to do anything else, than watching that little boy... himself in a way.  
"What about my wife?" Leo asked.  
"She's fine, too. But she's still under anaesthesis. It'll take some time before she wakes up."  
Leo nodded, then he faced the baby again: "Hey little Chris, welcome to this world." The baby seemed to be completely unimpressed and kept sleeping.  
"That's amazing," Leo whispered. Chris smiled. His dad was definitely right.  
"Hey," Paige exclaimed all of a sudden, "did none of you notice? It's already THAT day, both Chrises are here and nothing happened."  
Chris and Leo looked at each other.  
"Well, I think I should go now... I don't want to tempt fate," Chris said with a weird smile, "see you later..." Then he turned around to leave.  
"Hey Chris," Leo exclaimed when his son hit the button of the elevator. The young man turned around again.  
"Happy birthday," his father said. Chris nodded smiling and stepped into the elevator.

°°°°°°°°°°

When the young Elder returned to the library, the others were attacking him with thousands of questions. Chris just raised his hands to stop them.  
"They are both alright," he said, "Mom is recovering from the anaesthesis, and Chris is... well... he's cute."  
"You've seen him?" Michael asked surprised.  
Chris nodded smiling. It was clear that this event was really impressing for him.  
"Oh honey," Bianca hugged him tightly.  
"And nothing happened?" Odin asked. Chris shook his head.  
"Man, I can't wait to see that little boy," Cole muttered excited, still holding Wyatt in his arms. The boy was almost asleep again. Phoebe took his hand smiling. Her fiancé was so cute, too...  
"Well... there will be time for that later," Chris said determined, "first I will scry for that other version of me."  
"But how?" Phoebe asked, while the others looked at him confused, "we have nothing to..."  
"We have my blood," Chris said seriously. Then he went over to the table, where the crystal and the map were. "Odin can explain that to you," he said, while he picked up the things. The Elder nodded and did as his young fellow had asked him to.  
Chris took a pair of scissors from the desk and cut his finger with it. Then he placed his blood on the crystal and held it a little above the map. It was a special map, which included also some magical places outside the real world.  
"Do you think that will work? I mean, it could also just find yourself or the baby..." Phoebe said approaching him. Also the others followed one by one.  
"We will see," was Chris's short answer.  
First, nothing happened. But then the crystal started to dance around and to buzz. Then, all of a sudden, it broke with a little explosion, and the pieces fell down on the map.  
"What the hell..." Phoebe exclaimed.  
"Three pieces," Cole remarked.  
Chris nodded: "One at the school - that's me... and one at the hospital for the baby..."  
"Oh shit," Bianca exclaimed. The third piece was moving and it moved to the hospital.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo opened the door to Piper's room quietly. She was still sleeping. He placed little Chris into the cradle next to the bed of his wife and sat down.  
He sighed, took her hand and looked at her full of love. He couldn't believe that he had almost lost her. He couldn't have lived without her.  
The doctor had told him that she was alright... she was as fine as possible. But she had to relax now and take her time to recover from the operation.  
Suddenly the door opened again. Leo turned around: "Oh, hey Chris... thought you didn't want to stay." The young man just grinned.  
"Paige is buying some coffee," Leo went on explaining, and turned to Piper again.  
The young man went over to the bed and looked at the baby. A kind of excitement was growing up inside of him. That was amazing. Then he took the baby out of his bed.  
"Hey, what are you doing?" Leo asked.  
In the same second, Paige returned, looking at her nephews with surprise.  
Cristóbal just grinned again. "Nothing," he said and shimmered away, taking the baby with him.  
"No!" Leo yelled, realising what had just happened.  
Paige let the coffee fall down to the ground, the cup broke. "Oh my God," she muttered.  
Seconds later a nurse ran into the room: "What happened?"  
Leo was completely lost. "The baby," he muttered desperate. That couldn't be true...

°°°°°°°°°°

"DAD!!" Chris cried, even before opening the door of the room where the baby was supposed to be. He had orbed straight to the restrooms in the hospital without stopping and thinking about the possible consequences if he was seen by someone, and then he had rushed to the above-mentioned room, but when he forced the door open, a doctor held him back.  
"You cannot enter here. The police is about to arrive."  
"The police!!!??" Chris exclaimed. "What the hell is happening here?? I'm their family, ok?"  
The doctor started to speak again in a warning tone, as Chris fought to break free and enter the room, when Leo appeared.  
"Let him go... It's ok." His eyes were red, and seemed to be completely overwhelmed and anguished.  
The doctor unwillingly released him, so he finally approached his father. "But remember, if the police come and arrest the boy, it's under your entire responsibility. He belongs now to the scene of the crime."  
Chris opened his eyes widely, and then turned pale: "What the... dad, is mom ok?? What's happening here?"  
Leo shook his head: "Your mother is alright, Chris... They've taken her to another room, and she is still sleeping. It's better that she doesn't know for now."  
Chris breathed deeply, feeling relieved, but then something came to his mind again: "The other Chris, my twin... He was coming... Is all this for him?"  
Paige went in at that moment and looked at Chris worriedly, as Leo nodded. "He took your baby-self with him."  
Chris shook his head, nervously: "I should have hurried more! But how come you didn't go to the manor?? Why do all these people know?? And what the hell is gonna do the police!" He was really freaking out. Now not only did they have to deal with the prophecy and all, but also with police stuff. Luckily enough, Darryl would deal with it, but even so... why had they allowed them to be involved?  
"Chris, the nurse came right after it happened. We couldn't do anything else! We couldn't improvise, and make up a story of how the hell the baby had disappeared in front of our very same noses!" Paige muttered, distressed.  
Chris felt the world spinning around him: "It's gonna be dawn in a couple of hours, the time of the prophecy, if we calculated it properly, is approaching, and my little self has disappeared and is in the wrong hands! How are we supposed to stop all this?"  
"What do you mean, Chris?" Paige asked, frowning. "By the wrong hands and the prophecy and all..."  
Chris sighed: "I'm not the one of the prophecy, Paige. At least I think so... Phoebe saw the light when I touched baby Chris, only you thought that was ME! But then, she had this other premonition on me, and she saw two Chrises. I mean, two adult ones... Fighting!" He suddenly realised, he had to find him before it was too late, and he had to fight him. "Odin found that theory about twins, and all... It seems it's true, and that the prophecy refers to little Chris and his twin... I'm out of time, remember??? It was a mistake to think that this prophecy could refer to me..."  
Leo looked at him awkwardly. They had to do something, and quickly, but what?  
"I have to find that twin," Chris finished.

°°°°°°°°°°

Jonathan looked at the baby, who was crying loudly on a stony bed. "Are you sure this is the one?"  
Cristóbal smirked: "Of course I am... He's my twin, remember?"  
The woman with them smiled too, staring at Jonathan. "When the eclipse starts, the time will have come to bring the light back."  
Cris frowned: "The light?" That was weird, man. How could they say they'd be bringing the light back, when they were actually gonna resurrect Satan, the Lord of all the Darkness.  
But Jonathan smiled: "When the moon hides the sun, darkness will wrap us up. That is the moment to bring the light back, boy: Lucifer... 'The one who carries the light'."  
Cris chuckled at the pun. He hadn't seen it, how stupid! Then he went to the baby that went on crying soundly and looked steadily at him. It was unbelievable that that little child was gonna be him. Another version of him, who worried about morals and stupid useless stuff. But that would not happen at all.  
"We need to prepare the sanctuary. Our congregation is about to show up." the woman said suddenly.

°°°°°°°°°°

Tom woke up abruptly and looked to his side. Veronica was deeply asleep, her breathing was steady. Then he looked at his other side, and frowned. There it was, the tape.  
Suddenly he was feeling really bad about his delay. Perhaps Darryl was mistaken, and it was all for nothing, but what if he wasn't? What if there was this person with the exact appearance of Chris? Well, it is said that all of us have a twin, so why should he worry? But he did...  
He took the tape from the table, and stood up, ready to watch it. Veronica rolled a little bit, yawned and stretched, but didn't wake up.  
Quietly he left her bedroom and went down the stairs to the living room. He switched on the TV and put the tape into the player. Then he sat down and pushed tiredly the play-button.  
First nothing happened, there was only the empty hallway... but then Tom's eyes, grew wide...

°°°°°°°°°°

The Elders had returned to the books about prophecies after Chris was gone.  
Bianca had lied down on the old sofa in the corner and closed her eyes. She wasn't sleeping; she tried to talk to Hope. But it seemed the girl didn't want to chat with her mom at that moment.  
Cole and Michael were sitting on the edge of the table, while Phoebe was pacing in front of them.  
"I already have a bad feeling," Cole said to her, "it doesn't get better if you make me nervous."  
Phoebe looked at him furious for a second, but then her eyes softened. "I'm sorry, honey," she said and hugged him. Then she whispered: "How do you feel?"  
Cole shrugged. What should he say? He felt horrible. Not only about his premonitions... He also had the feeling that there was something more... something they had forgotten about...  
Phoebe took his hand. "Everything will be alright, I'm sure," she said softly.  
Michael wanted to pat Cole's shoulder and tell him that he should listen to his future wife. But when he touched him, before he could say anything, Cole winced a little for a second.  
"What?" he asked after his friend's body seemed to relax. Cole looked really pale and Michael was sure he had had again a premonition.  
But this time Cole didn't jump up to run outside, like the last time. Instead he turned a little fearful around to the Elders. Luckily for him, they were too busy with their reading. They didn't notice what had happened.  
Then Cole noticed that he was still holding Phoebe's hand. He turned to her.  
She nodded: "I've seen it, too."  
"What?" Michael asked again.  
Phoebe turned to him, while Cole was still a bit out of this place and unable to speak. "We've seen you," Phoebe explained, "we've seen you with Chris and the baby in a cave... And you told Chris to touch the baby."

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris and Paige were about to leave, when three officers entered the room, followed by the nurse and the doctor.  
One of them turned to Leo: "You're the father?" Leo nodded.  
"Mr. ...?" the officer asked taking out some papers to take notes.  
"Leo Wyatt."  
"Ok Mr. Wyatt, can you tell me what happened?" the officer went on asking, while the others were approaching Chris.  
"I don't know..." Leo said, "I was sitting next to my wife, the sleeping baby in his bed at my back... maybe I fell asleep for a moment, I don't know... When my wife's sister returned, the baby was gone."  
The officer nodded; then he turned to Paige: "Anything to add?" She shook her head. The officer nodded again.  
Then he approached Chris too, making the Elder-witch feel a little uncomfortable, and asked the nurse: "Is this the man you've seen?"  
"Yeah, that's the man who entered the room, short before I heard that yell," she explained. Chris's eyes began to fill with terror. That was really not good.  
"Who are you?" the officer asked while the others went a little closer.  
"Chris Halliwell," he answered truly.  
"Another family member," the officer noticed with an evil smile.  
Paige reacted quickly: "He's my brother."  
"But he called Mr. Wyatt 'dad', I've heard that," the doctor remarked.  
Chris sighed. 'Great, really great!' he thought.  
"Quite too old for that," the officer remarked meanwhile. Then he turned to Chris again: "I think there is something wrong about that... so... I'll try it the easy way... Where is the baby?"  
"I don't know!" Chris yelled angry. "I arrived just five minutes ago."  
"That's true," Leo and the doctor said at the same time.  
The officer didn't react to that. Instead he asked: "So you don't want to confess?"  
"WHAT? NO! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Chris exclaimed.  
The officer nodded and made a gesture to his fellows. Within a second they forced Chris's arms to his back. Then he heard bracelets snapping around his wrists.  
"What the hell..." Chris swore but it was useless.  
"We'll take you to the department to find out your identity and what you have to do with that crime," the officer said. Then he turned to the other one on Chris's right: "Tell him his rights."  
"Wait you can't do that, he's..." Leo yelled.  
But he had no chance. The officers pulled Chris out of the room.

_

* * *

(Chapter 6 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)_


	7. Chapter 7

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 7**

Michael looked at Cole and Phoebe confused. But before he could say something, Bianca suddenly jumped up, went over to the shelf, took out a book and flipped to it mumbling continuously: "Oh my God... Oh my God... Oh my God..."  
"What?" Odin asked. Both Elders were looking at the woman, as well as the other three.  
"Hope made me remember something I read a few weeks ago," Bianca muttered absently.  
"And?" Cole asked gaining back his clear mind.  
That moment the Phoenix stopped at a page and began to read out loud.  
_"The legend of Satan's rebirth! This legend based on a priest's vision from the late Middle Ages is one of the most impressing examples of a false prophecy that led to an extremely chase of innocents. After the priest had told his followers that one day - if a solar eclipse appeared together with a star-shower - one man would give his soul to rebirth Satan himself. The reincarnation would take place inside a new-born baby, and it should be escorted by a neverending dark red light, the symbol of hell. Only the great bright light of heaven would be able to stop that... It's clear that this prophecy is not worth taking care of, because there will never be two of those cosmic phenomena at the same time - it is even not possible to calculate the chance for that. But nevertheless, in former times it led to... blahblahblah..."  
_She looked up at the Elders. "This book was written by one of your fellows, seems you were completely wrong about the chances for that!" she said bitterly.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Veronica, wake up!" Tom yelled while shaking her.  
Slowly, the girl opened her eyes: "What's wrong, Tommy?," she said sleepy.  
But Tom didn't answer. He pulled her out of the bed and down the stairs. "I need to show you something," he said.  
He placed his girlfriend in front of the TV and started the tape again.  
Veronica was awake within a second, when she saw a person on the screen, looking like Chris, but suddenly shimmering away.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok, let me take your fingerprints for the files..."  
Chris did not have any other option. He stretched his arms, so that the young officer could grasp his handcuffed hands and get the prints. That was really bothering...  
"Ok... Your name is..."  
"Christopher Halliwell," he said in a monotonous tone.  
The young officer raised his head suddenly: "Halliwell... like THE Halliwells? Paige Matthew's family?"  
This time he gained the attention of Chris, who looked him in the eyes: "Do you know her?"  
"Kind of..." the officer answered, ashamed of himself. He shouldn't talk to people under arrest. He only had to write their profiles if they hadn't been recorded before. That was all. But now he couldn't back out... This guy seemed to be really interested.  
"Please, I need help..." Chris insisted. "This is a mistake, ok? I'm Paige's neph... brother," he was about to let it go. "My new-born nephew has been kidnapped and for a weird reason I was arrested, but it's a mistake!"  
The young officer looked aside as he wrote the information on the paper, trying to ignore him: "Look, Mr. Halliwell, I'm sorry... But I can't do anything, ok? You shouldn't be telling me all this, remember your rights? Did someone read them for you? So just don't forget them. That's my only advice."  
"Turner..." The policeman that was holding Chris by his arm and that had been talking to a fellow up to that moment, turned to them when listening to the officer. "This is enough. Did you record all the information? Then let's take a picture, buddy... " He said and pushed Chris to another door. "If you like it, you can send one to your girlfriend." He added mockingly.  
Chris looked at Turner, as he was forced to go forward. "Please, do me a favour! Just call Detective Morris, Darryl Morris! He's in the police station near the Golden Gate park!" he got to say before disappearing at the other side of the door.  
Kyle Turner kept pensive for a moment... Of course he knew Detective Morris, and he seemed to know the Halliwells quite well. It had been some months since the last time he had seen the man, when he worked in his station, but then he, Turner, was posted in another station, and had had to say goodbye...  
He frowned... Maybe he should call him. He remembered all the stuff of the weddings, and knew that there was something weird with that family, but they had been helpful, and Morris really appreciated them, so... He picked up the phone.

°°°°°°°°°°

Michael looked at the others a bit pale, as they talked about the prophecy and the new discoveries.  
"Wait..." he muttered at the end. The Elders and Bianca turned to him. "In that premonition of yours, the first one, in which Chris is touching the baby... what is the light like?"  
Phoebe looked at Cole out of the corner of her eyes. "Bright," she answered.  
"So that's the good one, isn't it?" All of them nodded at hearing Michael's words. "So that means... That the other premonition, in which I tell Chris to touch little Chris, has to be fulfilled too."  
Cole nodded almost without noticing.  
"Which means that I have to be somewhere in that hellish world under the earth... How the hell am I gonna get there?" he didn't like the idea at all, and he didn't like the fact that he could be kidnapped or something again, and that this was the reason why he was there to help Chris, unless... Unless he went voluntarily, to help him.  
Phoebe shrugged: "Premonitions work like that, I only see pieces of what can happen. This doesn't mean this is gonna happen, actually. But I guess this is the best thing, anyway."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok..." said Tom, taking the tape and putting it back to its case, "I guess this is too important, and I was again a stupid and didn't do what I should have done... So now we need to hurry, Chris has to see this."  
Veronica nodded, as she dressed up very quickly: "But don't say that, Tommy, how could you know this... this Chris, or whoever, was a demon?"  
Tom nodded and smirked: "I'm afraid that Steve and Nicki will be mad when they're back from their the trip with the second grade students. This is gonna be interesting."  
He took Veronica's hand, who was prepared, and shimmered away with her.

°°°°°°°°°°

"You shouldn't worry about that, Mike," Cole said finally, "things will go their way as always. If you're meant to be there, you will be."  
"Are you talking about fate?"  
Cole shook his head energically: "No... But if magic has a plan for you, you can hardly escape."  
When he said that, Cole realised how true those words had been, even for himself. He smiled. He was a witch now, and for the first time he smiled about that.  
"What?" Michael asked, noticing his weird smile.  
Cole shook his head again: "Nothing, I just thought about myself." His friend nodded.  
At that moment Wyatt woke up crying again. Cole went over to him and took him in his arms.  
"Hey, little worrior... what happened? Did you have a bad dream?" he talked to him with a soft voice. "Oh... everything's alright... your uncle Cole is here, and you know... I'll always protect you," he whispered to him and hugged the boy tightly.  
Slowly Wyatt calmed down a little. Still sobbing he started babbling: "Chris... bad... Chris... no..."  
Cole and Michael looked at him worried. Also Phoebe was approaching the little boy.  
"Could he know something?" Michael asked.  
Phoebe shrugged: "I don't know."  
Suddenly bluish orbing lights filled the library.  
"Paige!" Bianca exclaimed.  
"Where is Chris?" Michael asked.  
"What about the baby?" this was Silas.  
Paige sighed and sat down on the sofa looking at Bianca.  
"Alright, what happened?" the Phoenix asked, realising that something was wrong.  
"Well..." Paige hesitated. But what should she do, she had to tell them: "Well... Chris - the big one - is in jail..."  
"What?" Bianca exclaimed.  
But Paige just went on: "...and Chris - the baby - is... kidnapped by someone who looks exactly like... like Chris."  
"What?" now Cole and Michael exclaimed at the same time.  
"Hell, I myself don't understand it," Paige yelled frustrated, "but that's what I saw."

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo opened the door to Piper's new room. She was still sleeping.  
Paige had told him to stay, and to take care of his wife, even if he wanted to help, too. Leo thought they would need every little helping hand to end all that and bring the baby back safely.  
But he also knew that Piper would need him, when she woke up. So he finally agreed. If they needed him they would call him anyway.  
Quietly, he sat down on a chair next to Piper's bed. He took her hand and caressed it softly. He looked at her. She was sleeping so peacefully. If she knew what had happened...  
Leo felt his eyes wet again. He tried to hold it back, but he couldn't. Finally he broke down next to her, crying silently.

°°°°°°°°°°

After the door was locked and the officer was leaving, Chris sighed and sat down on the pallet. He was alone in the cell... luckily. He heard the steps of the officer leaving, and then another door closed. Chris sighed again.  
"This is not your day, huh?"  
Chris startled. He was alone, so where did this voice come from? Confused, he looked around. There was nothing to see.  
Then the air waved in front of him, and a man appeared.  
"Julian!" Chris exclaimed surprised.  
"Oh, nice... you remember me."  
"Of course I do," Chris stated, "you're the one who helped us... the one with less important witch-powers but some interesting demonic ones." Of course Chris hadn't forgotten about him. He had noticed that this witch was special from the first time they met. But he had never had the chance to ask him those things... till now.  
Julian's look became darker: "That's NOT your problem!"  
Chris shrugged: "I'm an Elder... so every problem of a witch is also mine..."  
"Not this!" Julian was getting a little angry.  
"So if you think that..."  
Julian shook his head: "Stop it, ok? I'm here 'cause I want to help you... but if you don't need..."  
Chris rose: "Wait... I didn't want to be mean... I'm just curious about you." Julian just looked at him. "So... your mysterious boss wants you to help us again," Chris couldn't help saying that...  
"He isn't my boss... he's my friend," Julian replied, still angry.  
Again Chris wasn't able to hold back his thoughts: "Well, nice friend... a demon right? Maybe this one who turned you into what you are? And now you're his friend...???"  
Suddenly Chris felt Julian's hand around his neck, pressing him strongly to the wall. Chris struggled to breathe when Julian whispered to his ear: "Never again say anything bad about the man who risks everything to save you... and me." Then he let him off.  
Chris gasped for air. He had never expected anything like that. But he still wanted to find out what was going on with him... maybe that was all related to the events that day. "So who else was... Who gave you those powers of shimmering and throwing fireballs?" he asked.  
"Zankou," stated Julian, "and if you're so interested, he was the only one who could have turned me back again."  
Chris swallowed. "I'm sorry," he muttered.  
"Never mind," Julian replied now completely calm again. He sighed, then he went on: "My friend wants to help you, and so do I..."  
Chris frowned: "Who is it? Why does he want me to be alive?"  
Julian looked at him with sad eyes: "Because he knows what you've done... And he knows what could happen again if you die."  
It was weird... there was just a few people who knew the complete story... But Chris also knew he wouldn't get any other answer, so he just nodded: "And how do you want to help us this time?"  
"We could try to find your little version... But therefore, you have to tell me everything you know about what had happened."

°°°°°°°°°°

Tom and Veronica stood in front of the main entrance of the manor. They had already knocked and rung the bell. But nothing happened.  
"Seems they have a good deep sleep," Veronica shrugged.  
Tom shook his head. Then he sighed and turned to her: "Wait here for a moment." Then he disappeared.  
"Tom, you can't..." but it was already too late. Tom had shimmered inside.  
Veronica sighed and looked around. 'Hopefully nobody will see us here, around this early time, we must look like burglars,' she thought.  
Then Tom returned. "They aren't there," he said, "maybe they are at the school. We should go there."  
"Ok," Veronica nodded, shaking a little.  
Tom frowned: "Are you afraid?"  
She shook her head: "No... just c... c... cold..." The girl was only dressed in a shirt and short pants... and it was still raining.  
Tom smiled, pulled her close and kissed her, while he shimmered them to the school.

°°°°°°°°°°

Jonathan was pacing around in that dark room. The baby was crying... since they had arrived at that special place, the place for the ceremony, that stupid baby was crying. It was getting on his nerves.  
"Could you please make him shut up!" he yelled at the woman.  
"Damn, Julian he's just a baby!"  
Cris rose form the chair he was sitting on and went over to the man: "When will that jerk Anderson come and bring the bottle of pain?"  
"By time," Jonathan answered.  
Cris grinned: "Yeah... if he ever has it..."  
"He has... even if the bottle of pain was hid in the great darkness very carefully, Mr. Anderson has found it and he will bring it here by time."  
Cris turned around to face the man who had spoken with a clearly British accent. He was tall and well dressed. He seemed to be a real gentleman.  
"Mr. Waterbe," Cris muttered and took a little bow. "Please, excuse my little uneasiness about the upcoming events."  
"You don't need to worry," Mr. Waterbe said. "Soon you will be united with the dark lord and you will be much stronger then you ever dreamed of."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok... Ok... Alright... I'll be right there." Darryl put down the receiver, and leant on the back of the comfortable armchair where he was sitting, exhaling a deep sigh.  
"Any emergency, honey?" asked Sheila, fearing that some new case would interfere in their free day.  
Darryl was always very busy, and his wife had always dreamed with this free day he never took. Finally, he decided he deserved it... But now the telephone rang, and on his face she could guess it wasn't good news.  
Darryl looked aside, a bit embarrassed: "I'm sorry, sweetie, I need to leave... Someone made a mistake and Chris is in jail..."  
"The Halliwells again!" Sheila appreciated that family a lot, but they could be so annoying sometimes! "Can't you phone someone else, and fix this mess from here?"  
Darryl shook his head. Actually, he could have done so, but he had the feeling that he might be helpful in some way or another. Chris was in prison for having kidnapped himself?? No way... But he was the only policeman that could know that.  
Suddenly something came to his mind. Chris had been really weird when he saw him the day before... Really weird, as if he didn't recognise him.  
"Oh, God..." he muttered, "I really need to go." He stood up, and took his jacket. "I'll be back as soon as this is all fixed, I promise," he added as he kissed her on the cheek.  
She sighed disappointed, watching him going out. Another dream thrown away.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Is that all?" Julian asked. Chris nodded. "Alright, so I'll see what I can do...I'll contact you if I find something." With these words the demonic witch shimmered away.  
Chris sighed and leant against the wall, hugging his knees. If he only knew a way out of that mess...  
Suddenly, he heard the main door of the prison-area open again. He looked up and listened.  
"Hey, I tell you... you better let me in, or I beat your ass to the moon!" Bianca yelled. Even if this was a really sad and frustrating situation, Chris couldn't help chuckling a little bit.  
A few moments and a lot of swearings later, Bianca appeared in front of the bars.  
Chris jumped up and went over to her: "Sweetie, I'm so glad to see you!"  
"Are you ok?" she asked.  
He nodded and gave her a kiss through the bars.  
"I was calling Detective Morris," Michael said, approaching the couple, "but his wife said he's already on the way."  
Chris smiled: "Seems Paige's friend - the officer, is really useful."  
"Huh?" Bianca looked at him without understanding.  
"Doesn't matter," Chris replied. Then he turned serious again: "Julian was here."  
"Who?" Michael asked.  
"Really?" That was Bianca.  
Chris turned to his friend and explained: "Someone who has helped us before... and in that special case, someone we could trust, I think..."  
Then he turned to his wife again: "He will try to find the baby, down there..." Bianca nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Wow... big party, huh?" Veronica exclaimed after she and Tom had entered the library.  
"That's not funny," Cole remarked.  
"What are you doing here, at this time?" Paige asked.  
"We've found something," Tom explained, pulling out the tape while his girlfriend was already preparing the TV.  
"So what?" Silas asked. He had no idea what that was about, same as the others.  
Tom put the tape into the player and started it. Seconds later they were watching Chris walking down a hallway and then shimmering away.  
Tom stopped the tape and turned around: "So there is somebody out there, a demon, who looks exactly like Chris... Thought you should know that!"  
The others were just facing him.  
"What?" Veronica asked. "Aren't you surprised or something?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Julian materialised in Belthazor's lair. "Have you found something out?"  
Julian nodded. "Not much actually, but it could be interesting..."  
"Go ahead."  
Julian sat down before starting to talk: "Ok... It seems there's another person who is physically exactly like Chris. He went to the hospital and kidnapped the baby, making them believe it was him. "Belthazor nodded gravely.  
"It is possible that the prophecy refers to this twin of Chris, and not Chris himself," hypothised Julian.  
"Why do you believe that?"  
"Because... it talks about two lives that will collide to generate a great power, and the Sorix believed that it was Chris, that's why they wanted to stop them... But now we have a person who is like a copy of our Chris, which means that the Sorix could be wrong."  
"Zankou wanted that power too. And he also believed it was Chris, this doesn't make any sense, Julian." Belthazor cut him off.  
Julian sighed, eagerly: "Well, anyway, it DOES make sense... Chris doesn't belong to this time, why should this prophecy refer to him? They didn't know about timetravelling and all that."  
"But prophecies are constructed over the final result. That's why it is a prophecy. It takes every detail into account, even if there's a timetravel."  
Julian kept pensive for a while... Finally he said: "Ok... What if the great power depends on one of the factors? What if the lives that collide are good, the power will be good, but if the power that collides is bad it will be evil?"  
"That would explain why the Sorix wanted to stop Chris, but not why they wanted to kill the baby, or why Zankou wanted the good power."  
Julian raised his hands impatient: "Simple. Zankou just wanted power. Chris was the immediate power he could get. He didn't mind about the prophecy at all, he only wanted the power Chris had, and then he would have handed them to the Sorix. And as for the Sorix... Perhaps they didn't want the prophecy to be fulfilled."  
Belthazor nodded: "Of course... I wouldn't like it either. That power would surpass all the rest in the Underworld and above. One power governing all. A dictatorship. The Sorix were an independent group, the didn't want anyone to boss them."  
"That's it," smiled Julian. "And now... what if we try to find that twin of Chris and the baby?"

_

* * *

(Chapter 7 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	8. Chapter 8

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 8**

Tom sat down on a chair and sighed: "That's not good."  
"And you are really sure about that?" Veronica asked confused. Paige, who had told them the whole story, just nodded.  
"Can't we use the tape to get Chris out of jail?"  
Cole shook his head: "No way... Chris is their main suspect... and that, for some very good reasons... We can't get him out!" Phoebe hugged him. If even Cole knew no way out... She sighed.  
Paige frowned: "But that tape IS useful... in another way... Seems everything leads us back to my timejob!"  
"What do you mean?" Odin asked.  
"Well... I'm working for 'Anderson International'. I'm the secretary of Mr. C. Anderson," Paige explained.  
Cole sighed: "And?"  
"And there were some mysterious things going on in his office... voices, lights - maybe from the demonic kind - that stuff... And... he had a lot of mailing-conversation with Mr. Waterbe from the 'Waterbe Inc.' And the last letter for him was picked up from my desk - after Mr. Anderson thought I had already gone home - by a darklighter!"  
"Wow," Phoebe muttered.  
"And..." Paige went on, but was interrupted.  
"... Chris's double was at the hallway of the 'Waterbe Inc.'-offices, he went out of one of their offices!" Tom ended her sentence.  
"Seems we finally have a trace!" Cole grinned weakly.  
Paige nodded: "I think I should go and visit Travor... the son of 'Mr. Anderson'... Maybe I can find out something. And I even have to be at work in about 45 minutes."

°°°°°°°°°°

Bianca and Chris were still holding hands through the bars while Michael kept pacing in front of the cell, when they again heard the main door.  
Bianca turned around. "Darryl!" she exclaimed, making Chris let out some air in relief.  
Seconds later the detective appeared in front of the bars. "What the hell happened this time?" he asked.  
"Whatever they say, I haven't done it!" Chris replied.  
"The nurse said it was you who entered the room..."  
"But it wasn't HIM!" Bianca yelled, and Chris and Michael nodded energically.  
Darryl shook his head: "You know...? You were really weird when we met yesterday at the offices of 'Waterbe Inc.'... By they way, what were you doing there?"  
"What?" Michael asked, because Chris had been with him. "That's impossible!"  
"I wasn't at the 'Waterbe whatever'... I don't even know what or where it is!" Chris replied confused.  
Darryl frowned: "But I saw you!"  
"No... Never!" Chris replied.  
"But," Michael suddenly said, "but probably you met his genetic twin... the one who has kidnapped the baby!"

°°°°°°°°°°

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Cris asked after a while.  
The baby was still crying, and the demon had the impression that everyone coming a little closer to that old building would hear that.  
"Of course," Mr. Waterbe remarked. "I asked my friends from the police department to take care for that."  
"How?" Jonathan asked. "I mean, you didn't tell them that we need a safe and calm place for the rebirth of Satan, did you?"  
Mr. Waterbe had to chuckle a little, but only for a second. Then he turned serious again: "I told them, I have some important guests from China who don't like to be disturbed."  
"And they believed that?" Cris asked frowning.  
"Of course, the stupid cops believe everything I say..."

°°°°°°°°°°

After Paige had told them everything she knew, she had left for her work, with the purpose of finding out as much as possible. She would try to meet Travor again, and get to know why he had said that his father had changed so radically. She was almost sure that everything was connected.  
At the school the two Elders closed the books with a strong thud, causing a lot of dust to fill the air, and sighed wearily. There was nothing else about those two prophecies, or about the genetic twins.  
They went to Cole and Phoebe. "We think we should go now... Something could be going on up there, and if we don't show up, we'll need to explain many things, more than we'd like," Odin said.  
"Moreover..." Silas added, "They could have some information regarding all this. It is weird that, if this prophecy is really so worrying, they do not know anything at all."  
Cole and Phoebe nodded, as they saw them disappear in the middle of their bluish orbs.  
Meanwhile, Veronica and Tom had been completely focused on the video. They couldn't stop watching it, trying to get more information. Tom wanted to examine every object, every movement, every detail that appeared on the screen.  
Cole sighed and went towards the window. The sun was brighting strongly... But he knew that in a few hours, the moon would have covered it, and then, the darkness would have defeated the sun. Then the starshower, and the great light... He shivered.  
But there was something he couldn't understand yet. 'The big is small, the small is big', said Wyatt's riddle.  
Cole shook his head, as Phoebe went closer and caressed his cheek, without saying a word. She rested her head on his arm, pensive, and stared at nothing...  
After a few seconds, she narrowed her eyes. On the table, there was still the map, and the scrying pendulum... And the scissors!!  
"How didn't we think about this before!" she exclaimed suddenly. Cole turned to her surprised, as she rushed toward the table, grabbed the remaining pieces of the pendulum. "If Chris could find all his selves before, we can now too!"  
Veronica and Tom turned to her too, frowning.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Hey, little brat... You'll be big, you know that?" Cris said in a weird tone, his eyes brighting with excitement. The time was coming, and very soon, the prophecy would be a true fact. Satan's Empire... His empire. He would be the reincarnation of the Lord of the world, thanks to that smallish crying and weak thing he had in front of him. It was so weird...  
"It is..." Mr. Waterbe muttered, behind him.  
Cris turned quickly to face him: "It is what?"  
"Weird... Of course."  
Cris frowned: "Can you read the mind?"  
Mr. Waterbe started to laugh in a very gentleman-like way: "I can read the faces... It was clear from your expression that you were thinking that. Besides, it is weird, I understand you. This little child here, who is the offspring of the power of all Good... How is it possible that our Lord decided to reincarnate in you by means of him?"  
Cris raised his eyebrow, and the Gentleman laughed again: "The ways of our Lord are inscrutable, my boy..." He patted his shoulder.  
Jonathan smirked, as well as the woman by him. "It is the power that matters, not the side in which it was born. He is wise... He knows what he can do with the power of the Good side too."  
Cris nodded, and turned his face towards the baby again, who was tired of crying and had stopped a little bit.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Darryl, believe me... If I don't get out of here on time," Chris said desperate, "this whole world will be lost in the deeps of hell!"  
Darryl sighed. Bianca and Chris had just told him what they had found out the previous hours.  
He shivered thinking about that. "Alright," he said after a couple of seconds, "I'll see what I can do."  
"Thanks," Bianca muttered.  
"I knew we could count on you," Chris added. Darryl nodded and went out.  
Michael followed him with his eyes: "It's really useful to have a friend like him, huh?"  
Chris nodded. "Yeah, but maybe we were asking for a little too much lately..." he added with a sigh, "we have to be more careful. Otherwise we will force him to get in trouble some day." Bianca nodded.  
After a few moments of silence Chris sighed again.  
"What?" Michael asked.  
"Nothing," Chris answered, "it's just... I'm afraid that this doesn't work... That I'm still stuck here when the solar eclipse starts..."  
"Hey, don't worry, honey," Bianca said, "Darryl will get you out of here... there are still a few hours left..." Chris nodded weakly.

°°°°°°°°°°

Julian and Belthazor walked through a tunnel side by side, somewhere in the underworld.  
"I've got the feeling that we are searching at the wrong place," Julian said after a while.  
"Why?" the source mumbled.  
"I don't know... but why should they hide here? There are a lot of demons worrying about that stuff, too. If I were them, I would go to another place."  
"Yeah, maybe," Belthazor muttered.  
Suddenly Julian stopped. "What about Waterbe?" he asked.  
The source frowned: "That stupid piece of shit that hides among the humans?"  
Julian nodded: "He isn't that powerful, but he has lots of followers... and enough money to get a safe place for something like that, up there, in the real world!"  
Belthazor looked at him still frowning. Then he nodded: "What would I do without you, Julian?" A weak smile went over his face.  
Julian grinned: "Do you really want an answer?"  
Belthazor narrowed his eyes, growling. All of a sudden, he threw an energy ball at his friend. Not a big and deadly one... Just a small one, to tease him. The source began to laugh.  
Julian, still grinning, threw an energy ball back at him.  
Both laughed out heartly about that. Then, Belthazor patted Julian's shoulder and calming down, they went on.  
"Do you know what? I don't believe the balance of the forces planned it that way..." Julian said. "I mean, when they sent you back in order to be a counter-balance for Chris... I think no one ever believed that you would do at least some good things." Belthazor nodded and laughed again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe held the piece of the broken crystal that was still connected to the chain above the map and tried to scry. But nothing happened.  
Well... nothing would be wrong... but the only thing that happened was that the other pieces of the crystal started to fly around and then recombined with a quiet 'pling'... After that, the crystal seemed to have never been broken. It looked again like it had always been.  
Phoebe frowned and tried again to scry for the baby... but it didn't work... "Damn it!" she yelled after a while.  
Tom and Veronica had watched her the whole time. But when they saw that it was useless they turned back to the TV and the tape of the false Chris.  
Cole sighed and hugged Phoebe tightly. "We will find them," he said softly, "we both knew that, right?"  
Phoebe nodded. Then she put her head on his chest. Listening to his heartbeat, she sighed. Cole kissed her head: "Everything will be alright."  
"I know..." she whispered, "as long as you don't leave me."  
"Why should I do that?" he asked frowning.  
Phoebe sighed again: "I don't know... because of all that... I mean because of what we are..."  
Cole swallowed and hugged her even closer: "I will never do that Sweetie... You know... I think I actually can't do that... Someone told me once that I'm already a member of this family... a Halliwell. And since yesterday I think it's true as it has been never before..."  
Phoebe couldn't help chuckling. "I thought you would hate having that power..." she said smiling about his words.  
"Mmmm... " Cole grinned, "I did... but... Now I think it isn't that bad... Maybe I'm already on the way to get used to it."  
Phoebe chuckled again. Then she kissed him passionately.

°°°°°°°°°°

Darryl was on his way to the detective who was working on that case. He had no idea what to say to him, but he knew he had to find a way to get Chris out of the prison... quickly. The young witch had to stop that mess, before it could start.  
He shivered when he was thinking about the meeting with the other version of his friend. That had been a really weird situation.  
'Wait!' he thought suddenly. 'Waterbe had asked him, or better the police, to protect that storage... and that false Chris was there, too, the day before... He came out of Mr. Waterbe's office... what if...???'  
He hurried a little more. He had to get Chris out of that and then tell him what he was thinking about...

°°°°°°°°°°

Mr. Anderson was pacing nervously in his office, messing with his hair uncontrollably, and muttering meaningless words in his desperation. He should have come back already. He should have found that bottle of pain! He turned suddenly after hearing a noise at his back, and he saw the light again, that bright light that started to fill the room. But this time the light was red and blinding. Mr. Anderson had to cover his eyes with his arm, to protect his sight. Then a distorted voice came from somewhere in the air, or the lights.  
"Il messaggero..."  
Mr. Anderson was terrified: "He's not here yet. But he'll be soon. I promise."  
"He should be here..." The voice said sounding so terrible that it could not be described.  
"H...He'll come. He's coming," the man stuttered. If any of his employees could see him now, in this situation, he would be really surprised at his submissive attitude.  
Suddenly, something exploded on his side. "Il messaggero must be here by the agreed time," said again the cold monstrous voice.  
Then, another big explosion and the light, the voice and everything disappeared.  
Mr. Anderson raised his head from the table with a quick movement. He had been there again, he knew it. As always, after his visit he just awoke on the table, and everything was in a perfect state, no sign of the explosions and battles.  
But he knew he had been there. The Lord of Darkness had visited him again, and he was running out of patience. He had to be reincarnated that day, or else...  
Suddenly the door opened, making him turn to face the person who entered.  
"Travor..." he said with a tired voice.  
The young man smiled: "Hello, dad..." He put his hand out of his pocket, and staring at his father, smirking, he said: "Doubted whether I would get it?" He left it on the table, the small old dark bottle...  
"The bottle of pain..." Anderson was so excited. He had done it. Travor had known how to serve the Lord and he'd be compensated. All of them.  
The older man took the object in his hands, caringly, as if it was the most expensive treasure on earth. "We have to take it to them. He is starting to lose his patience..."  
"Of course dad..." Travor smirked, holding him by his arm. "I can take it there..."  
But when he was about to do something, the door of the entrance closed with a strong thud, and Paige's voice resounded in the whole floor.  
"Is there anyone here? Mr. Anderson?"  
Travor furrowed his brows. What was she doing there?  
But his father shook his head nervously: "We need her away. I forgot to give her the day free..."

°°°°°°°°°°

When Paige stepped out the elevator, the office was unusually calm. She walked to her desk.  
"Is there anybody here?" she called. "Mr. Anderson?" There was nobody to be seen.  
"Paige what are you doing here?"  
Startled the witch turned around to look into the bright eyes of Travor. "Hey," she said, "well... where are the others?"  
Travor grinned: "Oh my Goodness... I think my father forgot to tell you... Today there will be a special meeting. He wants not to be disturbed, so he told everyone to stay at home today."  
"Oh", Paige muttered. Then she asked: "Do you know what kind of meeting?"  
The man shrugged. Then he looked at his watch: "I have two hours left, before I have to meet a friend on my own... Would you like to have breakfast with me... at Charlie's, down this road?"  
Paige hesitated for a moment; then she nodded with a smile. Maybe she could find something out, when she had the chance to talk to him.

°°°°°°°°°°

Slowly Piper opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a big white area... Then, she realised that it was the ceiling of the room. She was lying on an uncomfortable bed... a hospital bed. She was in the hospital. She began to remember how Leo had brought her there... Leo...  
Piper moved her head a little. Her husband was sitting on a chair next to her bed, his head rested on her cover. He was sleeping... Leo...  
He had brought her there because of the pain... that pain from her womb... her baby... Chris... She couldn't feel any pain, so everything must have been alright...  
She wanted to touch her womb, but...  
"OH MY GOD! CHRIS!" she yelled!

°°°°°°°°°°

Belthazor sighed. He wished he had stayed with Julian, seeking for the - surely very cute - baby. But instead he had to be at the conference of his demonic followers... the followers of the source of all evil.  
For half an hour he listened to their reports about their actions. How many witches they had killed, how many innocents they had tortured... the usual boring stuff.  
Suddenly the door was smashed open and a huge ugly demon went in.  
"Nazim," Belthazor greeted absently.  
"My Lord... I never made a secret out of my suspicion about you," Nazim said.  
Belthazor waved his hand to show his lack of interest.  
But Nazim went on: "Now you can prove that you're really the source of all evil."  
A murmur appeared among the other demons.  
The source shrugged: "I don't have to do anything, you can't command me... You even shouldn't dare to..."  
But seconds later another demon appeared... and with him Julian. The witch looked terrible, as if the demons had beaten the hell out of him.  
Belthazor's red skin turned grey.  
"This witch," Nazim explained, "was spying around... I thought you would like to kill him on your own."  
The source looked into Julian's eyes. The witch glanced back without any emotion. But from his outer appearance, Belthazor knew that he was scared to death.  
The source growled: "I will not... and you better don't dare to hurt him, or you will beg me to end your existence."  
"So... the source of all evil isn't able to kill a witch...?" Nazim said grinning evilly.  
But Belthazor didn't pay attention to him. Instead he turned to his friend: "Come over to me, Julian."  
The witch frowned. And when he tried to walk away from them, the demon held him even tighter. So he did what first crossed his mind... he shimmered next to the source.  
Belthazor grinned to Nazim: "You see... There is much more about this witch than you know..."  
The ugly demon was completely surprised by that move, same as the others in the cave.  
"This is Julian," Belthazor explained, "my spy... my creation... and he only acts to my orders... And if anyone of you ever put a hand on him again, he or she will never see the light of the day again..."  
Again there was a murmur between the demons, but no one dared to speak out loud.  
Belthazor turned to Julian and whispered: "I'm sorry, but I had to say that... are you alright?" The witch grimaced but then nodded.  
"Go to Chris, he will help you..." Belthazor said quietly. "Tell him this is the payment for our help... And than go on searching, I'll join you again as soon this is over." Julian nodded and shimmered away.

_

* * *

(Chapter 8 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	9. Chapter 9

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 9**

"Shit!" Chris exclaimed.  
"What happened?" Bianca and Michael asked at the same time.  
"It's mom, she's calling for me..." Chris said and was about to orb out of his cell.  
But Bianca hold him back. "No honey," she said as Michael nodded energetically, "you can't just orb away... you have to stay here... And anyway... You're father is with her, you know that..."  
"But..." Chris was desperate.  
"No buts, Chris," Michael said, "you should listen to your wife."  
Chris nodded, but he kept being nervous. Bianca sighed while he started pacing around.  
Suddenly the air above the pallet was waving. The next second the badly wounded Julian appeared.  
'What? Why was he shimmering?' Bianca thought to herself, while her husband went over to the man. Even if his skin was dark-colored, he looked really much too pale.  
"What happened?" Chris asked.  
Julian grinned: "I just had a private discussion with some demons... Nothing that belongs to your case... sadly... But, I thought as payment for the help of me and my friend, you could give me some healing.  
Chris was already working on that, while the witch spoke. "Did you find something out?" he asked, after he had finished his work.  
Julian looked at him with a smile: "I'm on it, yes... but I was a little disturbed, that's why I had to come here..." He sighed: "But I think I will find him within the next hour... Just keep a little patience."  
With this words he shimmered away again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo opened his eyes and jumped on his seat, startled by Piper's calls and shouts. He rushed to his wife and tried to calm her down: "Honey, it's ok, it's ok... You need to calm down."  
"Where's the baby, Leo, what happened to my baby??? Where's Chris!?" she started to cry nervously, fighting to get rid of Leo's grip, who was grabbing her wrists with a hand and caressing her hair with the other.  
He took short glances at the door, afraid of seeing the doctors or the police appear one moment or the other. "Shhhh... It's ok..."  
"What the hell has happened, Leo!!" she cried, thinking she'd turn crazy. The pain she had felt, and the absence of the baby, and of adult Chris... What could that mean? Why didn't adult Chris at least come to her call?  
"Honey, it's ok... They're both fine... They're completely healthy, my love... You just need to calm down, and don't cry that way... You need to relax, because it was hard for your body and I don't wanna lose you..."  
He had tears in his eyes, so Piper tried to follow his advice and relax. Moreover, she knew he wouldn't lie to her, so if he said they were alright, it must have been the truth.  
"But where are they, then? I wanna see my little baby..." she said, sobbing.  
Leo closed his eyes. How was he going to explain that?  
Suddenly the door opened, and both of them turned their face to look at the person who had just arrived. "Is everything ok, Mr. Wyatt?"  
Piper frowned at the sight of the policewoman. What was she doing there? Why was she talking to Leo and calling him by his last name?  
"Leo?" she muttered in a trembling voice. "What is going on here? Where's my baby?"  
Leo opened his mouth and closed again without letting a word escape through his lips, and looked at his wife and the policewoman alternately.  
The woman raised her eyebrow: "Do you need me to call a doctor?"  
Leo shook his head, wearily: "It's ok... thank you very much... I'll talk to her."  
The policewoman nodded and retired immediately, leaving the couple alone.  
"What is she doin' here, Leo...?" asked Piper with a very weak voice.  
He stroke her hair not knowing how to start, and how to tell her that that woman was there because someone, who looked exactly like Chris, had kidnapped the baby, that Chris was in prison, and that the policewoman had orders that he should watch them and whoever wanted to come in their room, just as a security measure, or in case someone phoned to ask for a ransom.

°°°°°°°°°°

Cole was sitting on a sofa, and Phoebe was by his side, leaning her head on his chest, worried and bored of being there without any idea of what they could do. They had their sight fixed on little Wyatt, who kept playing with his cars unaware of the worries around him.  
Tom, behind the sofa, was still rewatching the tape, very concentrated on all the details, but Veronica had finally fallen asleep by his side.  
"Tom, darling... aren't you tired? You're gonna get blind..." Phoebe said.  
Tom yawned and stretched his arms, but kept watching the monitor. He was about to answer her when something recalled his attention, so he threw himself on his knees and went closer to the screen, with his eyebrows furrowed.  
"Wait..." he muttered, rewinding the tape a little bit. Then he saw it again, but it was so fast, he needed to rewind it again. And again. And again... Until he was skilful enough as to pause it on the right part.  
"What are you doing, Tom...?" Cole asked. "You're gonna damage the tape and the vcr..."  
Veronica sat down, feeling very sleepy, but unable to sleep anymore with an excited Tom by her side. She went closer to him and looked at the screen.  
"I'm trying to save Chris, people! And I think I found out something..."  
Cole and Phoebe jumped from the sofa to take a look at what Tom had seen.  
Cole narrowed his eyes: "I can't see anything interesting there..."  
"Come on, look at his t-shirt, under the denim jacket!"  
All of them went closer to the screen as Tom rolled his eyes, impatient. "Look at the logo on his t-shirt..."  
"Tom, this is very blurred, not even with glasses can I see that," Phoebe complained.  
"Ok... It's the logo of this pool store, UNDER WATER."  
The three of them turned their surprised faces at him.  
"What? Tom, you really need to get away from this machine..." Phoebe said.  
"Come on, guys... Don't you remember it?? There was a store that sold pools for chalets and bungalows and whatever... it was called Under Water!"  
Veronica shrugged: "And???"  
"And... UNDER... WATER... What are the names that Paige mentioned, kids?" He asked in a playful tone.  
Cole frowned. "Waterbe?" he said, shocked by the coincidence.  
"And..." Tom gestured with his hands.  
"And Anderson, but..." Phoebe started again.  
"But 'Under' son and 'Water' be, ok?? Is it not weird?" he interrupted her.  
The others opened their mouths, unable to say anything, which made Tom grin happily.  
"How can you be so sure that is the logo, Tom?" Cole asked, who was still trying to identify it. Tom shrugged: "I've got a perfect sight. And when I was a kid I loved looking at advertisements and logos and copy them down. This store is already ruined, and now it's a kind of storage... In the outskirts. If you don't believe me, just take the video to a computer and zoom the image. You'll see that I'm right."  
Veronica nodded pensive: "Hey, Tom... Didn't Nicki and Steve stay somewhere around that place with the kids? I think she mentioned that they wanted to visit that paper mill with them today."  
Cole turned to look at her, worried. But Phoebe was still thoughtful: "Why would he wear that t-shirt? Unless he wants us to find him... Maybe he just had it."  
Tom shook his head: "Come on, it's a very clear coincidence... That would be even more weird."  
"Maybe he needs to identify himself as part of the staff to enter there?" Cole suggested.  
"Now you have a point..." Tom smiled. "And back to Steve and Nicki... Maybe they can take a look."  
"Or maybe they're in danger..." Veronica muttered, making the others look at her.

°°°°°°°°°°

Paige placed the glass back to the table and looked at the man sitting in front of her. Travor had invited her to a delicious breakfast with pancakes, toast, eggs, a good coffee and even a little Champaign...  
"That's really too much," she said to him, for the hundred time.  
He just smiled: "Not for a woman as beautiful as you."  
The witch blushed. He was really cute. But then she remembered why she was doing that, why she was sitting in that really expensive diner, instead of being with the others.  
"So what is that meeting about? I mean... Why was your father giving everyone a day free for that? I really don't get it..." she asked smiling, trying to sound innocent.  
Travor shrugged again: "He didn't tell me."  
Paige frowned. "Maybe it has something to do with Mr. Waterbe. There..."  
"How do you know about..." the man exclaimed surprised, but then he realised that he had said too much. He stuttered: "Well I mean... Why... why do you... think that?"  
Paige felt something strange about his reaction. Maybe he knows more that she had thought. She had to be careful!  
"I don't know," she replied trying to look unimpressed by his words, "I just had to type a letter for him, where he was talking about something special today... and that letter was for Mr. Waterbe... that's all."  
Travor frowned, than nodded. "Maybe you're right..." he said with a false smile.  
Paige just shrugged and took another pancake. But inside she was suddenly aware of every movement of that man...

°°°°°°°°°°

Darryl was sitting in front of the desk of Detective Johnson. The tall man, about 35 years old, was checking the folder of case #551862 - the case of Chris.  
"I don't see a chance to let him go," he said finally and looked at his colleague again.  
Darryl sighed: "Please, there must be a way... I'm a hundred percent sure, that he hasn't done it... And only with him, we can find the true kidnapper."  
Detective Johnson was focused on the man in front of him. He looked into his eyes, trying to understand why he was so sure about that... Because the fact that he was sure, wasn't a question for him. "Well, if you could explain to me, why you're so sure about that...???"  
Darryl sighed: "I wish I could... But I can't..." That was true... He wished he could just tell the truth, because he knew Chris was running out of time... there were only 90 minutes left, until that stupid solar-eclipse should start... And if Chris would be still imprisoned at that time...  
Detective Johnson saw that light of desperation in the eyes of his colleague. He shook his head and looked back to the folder. Then he noticed something else.  
"Well... when he was imprisoned your friend said his name is Christopher Halliwell..." he said. Darryl nodded and sighed again. "That's mysterious... 'cause my people checked that... and there is no Christopher Halliwell mentioned... Even not at the social insurance. Nowhere! Well except that little new born baby, who is named the same..." Then the detective looked at Darryl again: "Could you maybe explain THAT to me?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin paced in front of the large desk. Silas was sitting there working through the papers again.  
"There has to be something that we don't see at this moment... I know it, I feel it!" Odin said with a little anger in his voice.  
Silas sighed. He had the same feeling, but he couldn't find anything. He had already picked up a few new books dealing with the legend of Satan's rebirth, but those facts written there, they already knew.  
Then Silas eyes stopped on something. "Hey," he exclaimed.  
"What?" Odin asked excited, turning around to him.  
Silas pointed at an entry: "Here it's said that to bring Satan back, a few special things are needed..."  
"Special things?"  
"The Athame of Fate, the Blood of Harish - the lost demon, the Bottle of Pain, and a few more..."  
"Interesting..." Odin muttered.  
"And here," Silas went on, "they also need a special place for doing it... exactly there, where the line of the moon and the line of... of the devil are crossing. What ever the line of the devil is..."  
"Well... I don't know, but we need to find out, quickly," Odin replied. Then he turned around, calling: "Yuri! Andrew! Come over here, we need your help!"

°°°°°°°°°°

"Sweetie..." Leo had said, "we've got a little problem, but it will be solved, I promise."  
After those words, Piper's mind had started to spin and she wasn't sure of what Leo had actually said and what was product of her imagination. She had started to utter the name of her son, and to say it was her fault, she should have been more careful.  
Leo didn't know what else he could say. It wasn't her fault, she couldn't have prevented that situation, and she needed help.  
"Not in a hospital", she answered, "Not in a hospital, however much had Chris insisted. He should have been born in the magic school..."  
"But you were dying Piper..."  
It was useless. He would not be able to make her reason. Leo was relieved that he had decided not to mention the other Chris. He just told her that Chris was there when it happened and that he was caught in the middle of the fire. He also added that he couldn't see the criminal. He was in the bathroom. A little lie, and some angry words were ok, as long as she wasn't more worried with the knowledge of an evil clone of her son.  
"I wanna go home, Leo... I wanna try to find my baby..." she sobbed, tired of crying and panicking.  
Leo stroke her hair lovingly: "You need rest, treatment, and forget about the hard work. Let us do it now. We'll save them both."  
Piper shook her head. "What about the prophecy?? What's gonna happen now?" she asked, desperate.  
Leo stared at her, pensive. "I don't know... I don't really know," he murmured.

°°°°°°°°°°

"We have found out something very interesting," Odin announced, right before materialising in the library.  
"We too," Tom said, very proud of himself, gaining an exasperated glance from Odin, who went on.  
"For the legend to be fulfilled some elements are needed, and these are some of them," he explained, handing out the paper with the list they had made. "If we get to find these things, we could find those that look for it."  
"Those that hide..." Cole sighed, who again started to think about Wyatt's riddle and the prophecies.  
Phoebe took a look at all the elements: "What the hell is this? I mean... We cannot find this just by asking other people, you know?"  
Silas shrugged: "If they can find them you can, too. Besides, there's something else... A meeting to have Satan reborn has to take place somewhere, where the line of the moon and the line of the devil cross. Yuri and Andrew, two of our fellows, are already on it, and..."  
"Ok! Our discoveries, now. The old storage Under Water," Tom was so excited he had forgotten that the Elders didn't know what he was talking about.  
Phoebe immediately explained: "Waterbe and Anderson, it's a long story, but Paige's job is related to them, she found out that some weird activities have been taking place there, and well... "  
"Tom concluded that those names fit perfectly well with this storage," Veronica finished. "Because the other Chris had that logo on his t-shirt!"  
The two Elders stared at them, confused: "What does this have to do with the line of the devil and the line of the moon?"  
Tom frowned: "I'm not sure... But I was thinking that...look... Take the second part of the names, what do you get?"  
Silence. Finally it was Veronica that answered: "Be and son. And?"  
"And... I don't know, I have the feeling that this means something."  
"They are only names, maybe we're making a mountain of nothing," Phoebe said, tiredly.  
Tom shook his head: "They could be fake. In purpose. Under Water, son and be. Under the water the son-to-be. The son-to-be is Satan who has to be reborn, and he'll be probably reborn in Under Water... I don't know, but I could bet that those lines cross right there. And I think I should send a telepathic message to Steve as soon as possible, so that he can check."  
The Elders and Phoebe kept pensive for a while, trying to understand everything and to guess what those lines stood for.  
"Got it!" Cole exclaimed.  
All the faces turned to him at once. "What?"  
"The big is small, the small is big..."  
The other sighed, disappointed. It was again that riddle!  
But Cole continued, excited: "The big Chris, ours, is the small one... The same person, isn't it??" Everyone nodded. "And the small one is gonna be big... He's gonna be powerful, we know that, too." Everyone nodded again, and Odin growled. "Ok... Maybe they need to join their powers, maybe the vision, m... Phoebe's vision, refers to that and..." he looked at Phoebe, remembering the vision about Michael who would tell Chris to touch the baby, "...Chris has to touch the baby in the right moment."  
"Ok..." Odin sighed, "that's a good explanation for the riddle, but I guess there's nothing new."  
Cole shook his head: "There is. I mean, I got the whole riddle. The last part too. Listen... Forget the visible, find those that hid. Those that hid... we thought it meant people, but no... It's not Under Water, guys. We chose the wrong collocation. It is Water Under Son Be, that is... Water under the son-to-be. Or what is the same: Under Son Water Be, and note the names, the right, perfect order of their probable fake names: Under the son, there's water."  
"Where do you wanna get, Cole?" Tom asked, amazed, as the others listened carefully.  
"To this... Under that storage, two little rivers cross."  
"WHAT???" asked all of them.  
"I checked the maps. Two streams. An ancient Indian legend talks about it. The rivers that hid under the sun," he grinned, victorious, as he saw the expressions of the others. So to impress them even more, he added: "Leona and Chindi hid from Shá, they betrayed him, and defeated him. This way, the Navajos explained the first eclipse they saw. Leona is the deformation of the real Navajo word for Moon... One of the streams was called like that. The other stream, Chindi, means devil. The both defeated Shá, the sun... They hid under the Sun, which is pronounced like 'son, offspring'. They hid because they run under the Earth..."  
They were really impressed, and couldn't say a word.  
Cole grinned even more widely: "So everything matches now! I bet the medieval legend was adapted from this one, due to the fear of apocalypse. This one only tried to explain the eclipse. Probably the tribe was sitting around a fire, looking at the sun, when an eclipse took place. They knew about the existence of these two rivers, and they probably tried to tell the kids the story of the defeat of Shá, so they gave names to the rivers, and said that their union and betrayal had caused that. In the Middle Ages, they might have adapted it to their own Christian beliefs... and now... surely, all this had a darker beginning."  
"So you mean..." Odin said, "that the place is that one? The storage Under Water?"  
Cole nodded: "I say that, this is the place, and probably they are in some kind of sublevel, hiding under the sun, over the water, so that the son to-to-be has water under himself, and is able to defeat the sun, the stars. When the eclipse takes place, the union will take place too... In the same spot as the other time, with the two rivers."  
"Ok, we have the devil, that other Chris, but little Chris cannot stand for the moon..." Veronica said.  
"Maybe they're gonna use the water from Leona on little Chris..." Tom suggested.  
"Cole, honey..." Phoebe intervened, still surprised, "what the hell have you been doing all this time? Reading history books? If you were bored, you only needed to tell me!"  
Cole smiled: "I always loved native american history."

°°°°°°°°°°

Darryl sighed. He felt helpless. "What shall I tell you? I promised them to... Shall I invent something... a little story for you? Maybe like... the baby and the man in your jail are the same person. And there is another man... a really evil one... looking exactly like the man you've imprisoned. And that evil man is responsible for all that! And if the Chris you have here, can't go and stop that evil guy, the whole world will go to hell within the next hour!... Would you maybe believe that?"  
Detective Johnson started to chuckle: "You're right... I wouldn't believe that. But as long as you don't give me a reason to believe in your trust in him, I can't let him go."  
Darryl shook his head. Then he looked into the eyes of his colleague again, and with a sigh he begged: "Please... I'm truly sorry that I can't explain all that to you. I know that story was bullshit, but one thing about it is the truth. If you don't release Christopher Halliwell as soon as possible, this whole world will go to hell... literally." He knew it was a risk to say that... but he had no other chance. And if they would fail, it wouldn't matter anyway.  
Detective Johnson glanced back at his colleague. He saw that kind of desperation in his eyes again... something that told him, that he wasn't lying about this point. And slowly he started to feel uncomfortable about his words.  
"Ok," he sighed, "he can go... But you stay on his side, you're acting as guarantor for him, you take care, that he will not run away!"  
Darryl jumped up and shook Detective Johnson's hand. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" he said and left the office.

°°°°°°°°°°

"But that's boring Mr. Moody!"  
Steve sighed: "Trips like that are done at every school! You're here to learn something."  
"But a mill?" agreed another child.  
"Ok, kids," Nicki said, "stop it!... And don't forget: NO MAGIC! Ok?"  
"Yes Ma'am," the crowed of children replied.  
Nicki smiled. But when she returned her look to Steve, her smile froze. He looked kind of absent... and she knew that look very well.  
"What's wrong?" she asked. And when he didn't react, she asked him a second time.  
"It was Tom," he explained finally, he asked me to check a building near this place... Can you handle the kids alone for a while?"  
She nodded: "But why? What's going on?"  
"I don't know... not exactly... I have to contact him again on my way." Then he gave her a passionate kiss, making the kids chuckle, and went away.  
Nicki sighed: "I hate it to be left behind."

°°°°°°°°°°

Travor looked at his watch: "Oh, I'm sorry Paige... I think it's time for me to go."  
Paige sighed: "Who is it? The person you're about to meet, I mean?"  
Travor shrugged: "Just an old friend, you know..."  
Paige nodded, even if she believed not a single word of him... not after that weird breakfast they had.  
"I'm truly sorry," he said and stood up, "See you tomorrow?"  
Paige nodded grinning: "Of course... I'm sure there will be a lot of work waiting for me tomorrow." What else should she say?  
Travor went to the waiter to pay. Then he waved to Paige a goodbye and left the diner.  
As soon as he was out of sight, Paige jumped up too. She cloaked herself and then she followed him.  
Travor went by feet so she had no problems to stay on his track... slowly they went nearer to that old industrial area.

°°°°°°°°°°

Julian crept slowly through another tunnel down there in the underworld. Then he turned around a corner to enter another one, when he ran into someone. Scared to death he stepped back before he noticed who the demon was.  
"Damn! Why are you scaring me that much!" he exclaimed angry.  
Belthazor ginned: "You should be more careful, or soon you will be beaten up again."  
"I was careful," Julian replied, "but I can't see through walls!"  
The source chuckled, but then turned serious again: "Time is flying... so where are we going now?"  
"You don't have to remind me of that," Julian sighed. Then he pointed to the end of the tunnel: "I'm about 95 sure that at the end of this should be a kind of door... a hidden door... And I think behind that we should find what we're looking for."  
Belthazor nodded: "So go ahead."  
Julian did, with a grimace. The demon followed him. When they reached the end, Julian examined the walls carefully. Belthazor watched him amazed.  
"That's it," the witch whispered and pushed a little button which was carefully hidden in the wall. With a little crack a small door opened. Tiptoeing they entered the area behind it. It was another tunnel and at the end there was a light.  
They stepped a little closer. And then they began to hear voices.  
"It's about time, isn't it?" they heard someone saying. The friends looked at each other, that sounded like Chris. But they knew that couldn't be.  
"We have still fifteen minutes to go," another voice said.  
"Waterbe..." Belthazor murmured through his teeth.  
Then they heard the baby cry. Belthazor turned to Julian: "Go and pick up the boy, bring him here."  
The witch nodded: "And you?"  
"I'll stay to do what ever is necessary to stop them."  
Julian nodded: "But when I'm back, hide yourself... He doesn't need to know." Belthazor nodded, and Julian shimmered away.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris had sat down again on the pallet. He felt helpless, even if his wife and his friend kept trying to cheer him up. He looked at his watch for the hundred of times in the last minute. 'Only fifteen minutes...' he thought.  
Bianca observed him carefully. She was afraid, that he could do something wrong, just out of his desperation. He needed to calm down, that was what she was sure about.  
Michael leaned against the bars. He had closed his eyes. He thought about his wife: 'Angy...' He wished she would be there on his side. He missed her.  
Suddenly they heard the main door again. Chris jumped up and approached the bars.  
Seconds later Officer Turner appeared in front of him, followed by Darryl. Bianca smiled, when the officer pulled out some keys.  
"Ok," Officer Turner said, "you can go with Detective Morris for now, but don't try to escape."  
Chris smiled relieved. The first thing he did when he stepped out his cell was hugging and kissing his wife. Then he hugged Michael, and then Darryl and then he hugged also the completely surprised Officer Turner.  
"Ok, so where do we go now?" Darryl asked.  
Chris shrugged and was about to say something. But suddenly the air in front of them started to wave.  
"What the hell..." Officer Turner exclaimed, when Julian appeared out of nowhere.  
"Are you crazy!" Chris yelled. "What about exposing magic, huh?"  
"Sorry, no time for that," Julian quickly replied.  
"Did you found something?" Bianca asked.  
Darryl looked at the colored man, than at Chris and than at the pale young officer. He put his hand on the shoulder of the latter, hoping that he wouldn't panic and alarm the whole department.  
"I know where he is, and we really have to go," Julian explained as fast as he could and offered Chris his hand.  
Chris looked at his wife: "Go to the others and tell them what's going on, I'll be back as soon as possible." Then he took the hand.  
Michael suddenly remembered what Cole and Phoebe had said. "Wait!" he yelled and grasped Chris arm. As result, all three man shimmered away.  
Bianca sighed when she saw them disappear. Then he turned to the other two.  
"W...w...what... the hell... was that?" Officer Turner stuttered.  
Darryl sighed, but before he could say something, they heard the door again and a voice.  
"By the way, I have forgotten something..." Detective Johnson said. Then he noticed that the suspect was missing. "Where is he?"  
"Gone," Bianca replied dryly.  
Detective Johnson turned to Darryl: "You said you would..."  
Darryl rose his hands in defence: "I'm sure I'll know where he is... You've heard about that storage we shall take care of for Waterbe?"  
The detective frowned: "You mean..."  
Darryl nodded. Then he turned to Bianca. "Do as Chris had told you..." he said grasping her hand and handing her over a little sheet of paper unnoticed. Then he turned to Detective Johnson: "What are you waiting for, let's go!"

°°°°°°°°°°

Everyone jumped up, when Bianca shimmered into the library.  
"What about Chris..."  
"Is he ok?"  
"Is he still in jail..?"  
Everyone kept asking.  
"STOP IT!" Bianca yelled, making everybody shut up. Only Wyatt started to cry again. She sighed and picked the little boy up to calm him down again.  
Then she turned to the others who were waiting for an explanation: "Chris is free, he's with Julian... the witch said he knows where the baby is. And Michael is also with them... And Darryl believes that they are here, at this storage..." She handed them over the little sheet of paper with an address on it, before she went on: "He and another detective are also on the way to that address... so, you should hurry and go there..."  
"That's the 'Under Water'-storage," Tom said after reading the address.  
"Alright... So Odin, Silas, I think you should orb us there, if you don't mind," Phoebe said.  
"Or I'll shimmer us," Tom added.  
"I'll go with you!" Cole said determined.  
"No, you're not a witch," Tom replied, "and who shall take care of Wyatt?"  
"I will do that," Bianca said, "I'm to pregnant for a fight... I think I'll took the boy and shimmer to the hospital to look after Leo and Piper."  
Cole nodded and turned to the others again: "So I'm in..."  
"Never," Tom replied, "Chris would kill us."  
Phoebe felt Cole's determination. But she knew he would need a reason if he wants to join this without letting the others know the truth. She needed to help him, cause he wanted him on her side.  
"Tom, we could need him. No one knows Chris better than he does... what if we suddenly stand in front of both versions. Are you sure that you can tell which one is our Chris?"  
"Are you sure that he can do that?" Veronica asked back. "I mean, I think it's not my point to decide that, or Toms, but we shouldn't risk his life for nothing."  
"I'm sure I can!" Cole answered looking thankful at his love.  
The young witches just sighed. "Ok," Phoebe said, turning to the Elders again, "do your job, please."

* * *

_(Chapter 9 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén) _


	10. Chapter 10

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 10**

"Ok..." Cris said looking at his watch impatiently, "it's about time, isn't it?"  
"We need to go down there..." the woman went towards the baby and held him on her arms.  
"We have still fifteen minutes to go," Waterbe answered, calmly.  
"But what about the Bottle of Pain?" Jonathan asked anxiously. "We need it, and time is flying."  
Waterbe shook his head: "You need to have faith... it'll be here on time."  
The woman sighed: "It is hard to have faith when you can do nothing but wait!"  
Little Chris started to whimper slightly, at what Cristóbal could not but sigh, desperate. "Not again... please!"  
The beautiful woman turned to him with a mocking smile drawn on her face. "Look, he's so cute, isn't he? Come on, Cris... You'll be one very soon! You need to get used to him..." she said while she tried to make the baby calm down.  
The young demon rolled his eyes: "Ok, ok... we should go now... and wait there, wherever we're gonna make the ceremony, for that Bottle of Pain."  
Jonathan nodded: "Right. The congregation is about to arrive, and we need to open the doors of the secret corridors, so that they can get here. Let's go."  
"Wait... We still need the lost demon," Waterbe said with a lot of calm.  
All the faces turned to look at him, in shock.  
"What? But I thought the lost demon was Cris..." Jonathan muttered.  
Waterbe slightly smiled: "He's only the recipient, so to speak... The lost demon is the last ingredient."  
The others panicked after listening to his words. How the hell were they supposed to find the lost demon now?  
"Don't worry about that..." the old man continued, as if he had again read their minds. "He'll come by himself."  
And passing by the surprised and paralysed trio, he crossed the gate that headed to the stairs which would lead them to the lower level.

°°°°°°°°°°

Travor walked faster as he approached his goal, and Paige found she was having problems to follow him. Finally he stopped. "Under Water", the old notice said. Travor didn't even pay attention to it, or looked around to make sure that he was unseen, but Paige decided to keep the distance.  
The young man pressed a button on the clean flat wall, and suddenly, a trap door on the ground opened. He started to go down, as if he was using some type of ladders. After that, the door closed behind him.  
Paige went closer, frowning, and not knowing what to do next. Should she warn her sisters? Or just follow him down there? She looked at the trap door, and finally she made a choice. She would orb in, wherever it led.

°°°°°°°°°°

'I'm in, Tom. But there's no one here... Are you sure this is the place?' Steve was looking around himself in the dark room. It seemed as if had been abandoned long ago... He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to get used to the darkness of the place.  
'Can you at least tell me what's going on?' he continued talking with his friend telepathically.  
While he listened to Tom's answer, he approached a little table that was in the middle of the room. "Oh... wait... There's something here..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Belthazor had seen how Julian disappeared, and was trying to figure out what to do next, when he heard some noises. More than the casual talk of minutes before, it seemed now as if someone was trying to make as less noise as possible, not to be discovered. He approached slowly to the entrance of the big room, from where the voices had been coming some minutes before, but instead of seeing demons, or the baby, he saw a quiet shadow that moved stealthily inside. He went closer, but then...

°°°°°°°°°°

Steve turned startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder: "What the...!!!"  
"Hush, man, you don't want the bad guys to hear you..." It was Tom's smiley face that the young teacher saw first.  
His heart beat strongly: "Have you turn crazy??? Did you wanted to kill me??" Steve looked at the others that had come with him: Veronica, Cole and Phoebe.  
He sighed at seeing their worried expressions: "Ok... someone can tell me what is happening, or is this a big secret party? Because my birthday will be in some months..."  
Cole smiled, but said nothing, letting the friends fix the situation.  
"Ok.. No time, man... But I heard you had found something..." Tom said, looking over Steve's shoulder.  
His friend shrugged, and turned his head at his back: "I was just surprised... That table is wet. Isn't that weird? I mean... This is an abandoned storage..."  
"Chris..." Phoebe mumbled, staring at the table.  
"What?!" Steve exclaimed.  
"Hush!" Tom looked around nervously: "This is serious, dude, someone is gonna hear us! Ok...?"  
"What has happened to Chris? Is he ok?"  
"Kinda," Tom answered casually.  
"What?" This time Steve question was almost a whisper, but a terrified one. He looked at Veronica, Phoebe and Cole, in search of a better explanation, but the explanation came on his feet.  
"Chris!" all exclaimed at once.  
"Michael?" Phoebe went on.  
The two young men shrugged. Julian had shimmered them to that hidden place, where he had been before. They hadn't seen much in the shadow, but when they heard the voices of the family they had went over to them.  
"Long story..." both men said at the same time.  
Then all the faces turned towards Julian, a little surprised to see him again.  
"Ok... I need an explanation, or an aspirin. Nicki is out there with a bunch of bored magical kids, and I'm not sure if this is a joke or..."  
"This isn't a joke, Steve. It's truly serious," Veronica said gravely.  
Julian nodded: "You should do your job, I came to do mine, and now I need to go." With that he shimmered away before no one else could ask some question.  
"What do we do now?" Michael asked, watching Chris as he looked around in search for something.  
Cole smiled: "Let's find a lower level... And welcome to our life, Mike."

°°°°°°°°°°

"What are you doing here...?" Julian asked when he reappeared. "I thought you'd be waiting up there..."  
"Shhh..." Belthazor hushed him, signalling the front.  
From there they could see some figures talking and preparing some things. One of them had opened a gate when they arrived, and a lot of people covered with black cloaks and hoods had entered, filling the room. The baby was crying disconsolate.  
"They disappeared... One of the kids from the magic school was there on their place, but when I was about to go to him, I heard that voice in my head... I just followed it and here I am. I think we got them." He smiled.  
But Julian looked at him worriedly: "Voice? What voice?"  
Belthazor shook his head: "Doesn't really matter. If he thinks he can dominate me, he's completely wrong, but he helped me come."  
Julian grabbed the reddish demon's arm: "What do you mean by 'he'?"  
Belthazor pointed at the group: "Waterbe. He tried to provoke me... He said I was no more than a cowardly lost demon..."  
Julian opened his mouth, surprised, but then, Belthazor hushed him again: "Look, someone is coming."

°°°°°°°°°°

"I knew you'd be on time, son... What about your father?"  
Travor had just entered and smiled at the group: "My father was having a conversation with the Lord... He was worried that the messaggero wasn't punctual..." He grinned. "I'm sorry, I like pushing things to the limit." Then he handed over the little bottle he had found some hours before. "My father prefers to watch things from the distance."  
Jonathan nodded, as Cris and the woman looked at the newcomer.  
"Still, we need the lost demon," Cris said, staring at Waterbe.  
"He's here, young man..."  
The little baby started to slow down his cries again.  
Paige had orbed right after Travor, and was wondered by what she was seeing. The small group stood in the middle of two small streams, that crossed under the storage, and that had a small isle in the crossing point, joined with the others pieces of ground by small and unstable bridges. On the sides, between the rivers, other people stood, people cloaked and covered with hoods. She was hiding behind a pile of wood that would be probably used later in some kind of ceremony which, with a bit of luck, they would stop.  
She was surprised with the shape of the group, so carefully studied, that if you look from the top, you could see a bluish cross of water dividing into four a square made up with those hooded people. A black square. And in the middle, another colourful spot, where Jonathan, Waterbe, Travor, the baby, a woman and the amazing clone of Chris stood.  
Cristóbal turned to see if that was true, but no one was there. The woman approached him, with the baby on her arms: "He's right, Cris, he'll be here soon..."  
Paige gasped in horror and shock. She was prepared to see a double of Chris but when the woman received all the light on her face...  
"Blanca... Maybe you should leave the baby on the altar. He needs to be there by when the ceremony starts," Jonathan explained.  
The woman nodded, and smiled.  
"Oh, my God..." Paige was pale, completely white. There wasn't only a clone of Chris... but also one of Bianca!!!

°°°°°°°°°°

"No!" Chris exclaimed. The others turned around to him surprised, so he went on: "That's my fight... You will stay back... got it?"  
"But..." Cole was about to protest.  
But Chris interrupted him: "I said no... I have to do that on my own... And... you don't have to remind me of you-know-what... I know what I'm doing." With this words he started to orb away.  
Michael reacted quickly and grasped his friends shoulder to be orbed with him.  
When both men were gone with those little blue lights, Steve looked at the others questioning again.  
Phoebe took Cole's hand and pressed it tightly. He looked at her and nodded. Then she turned to Steve.  
"Maybe you should go back to Nicki and the kids," she said, "what will happen within the next minutes could really scare those little witches... Nicki could need your help."  
The young witch shook his head: "And what is going to happen?"  
Phoebe kept silent. She didn't know how to say it.  
So Veronica took the word: "If Chris can't stop it... it's the end of the world... it's the rebirth of Satan."  
Steve swallowed and closed his eyes, allowing those news to sank in. Then he turned his look to Phoebe again: "And you really think that I would leave you now?"  
No one replied to that statement. There was no need to. They all just looked from one to another, not sure what to do next.  
Finally Cole rose to speak: "Alright, as I said... we should find a way to a lover level... demons don't like it up here." He made a little break before he asked grinning: "Or do you really want to stay in the back this time?"  
Phoebe shook her head first, then the others did the same. They all started pacing around seeking for a way that would lead them down in the cellar or even much deeper.  
Meanwhile Cole approached Phoebe and whispered: "I thought Julian is a witch..."  
"Me, too... but who knows..." Phoebe answered. "Anyway... it seems our mysterious helper is back..."  
Cole couldn't help but grinned. He hadn't forgotten who was behind all that. "Yeah, so it seems," he muttered, hoping that his other half was alright.  
"I got something!" Tom quietly called out for the others. He had found a little door in the ground.  
The men opened it together. Then they all went down those dark stairs underneath it... unaware of that soundless alert they had already started when they unlocked the door.

°°°°°°°°°°

Waterbe rose his hands and started mumbling sentences in a long-time forgotten language.  
As if he would know what was about to happen, little Chris started to cry again. Blanca placed the baby on the altar-like stone in the middle of the little island they stood on.  
Then Waterbe turned to Cristóbal: "It's time to settle the physical connection."  
Cris nodded and, a little trembling, he placed his hand on the belly of the little baby. When nothing happened, he took a deep breath.  
But then a red glowing light appeared between the baby and his hand, making the young demon stop breathing.  
Waterbe grinned with joy. Then he started to place all the little gifts for the new born Satan around those genetic twins, while still mumbling sentences in a singing-like voice.  
But suddenly he stopped and rose his head. He turned to those demons and humans on the outer squares: "We have uninvited guests... They are coming down the stairs! Go and take care of them!"  
All of them nodded and one after another shimmered away, or left by feet.  
"You still need the blood," Travor said, while Waterbe placed down the Bottle of Pain at his meant position.  
As soon as he did, a kind of darkness - like thick black smoke - began streaming up to the ceiling from somewhere around the baby and Cristòbal's hand.  
Waterbe looked at the visibly scared demon. "Whatever happens, don't move your hand away from him," he commanded. Cris nodded.  
Then Waterbe turned his head to one of the tunnels. "Now it's time for you joining us, Belthazor."  
All the others turned their heads to Waterbe surprised. But the grey-haired demons just smiled.

°°°°°°°°°°

The streets had been full of crazy people who wanted to see that nature-event. Everyone was excited about the solar eclipse. So it took a really long time till the car finally stopped in front of the old storage.  
When Darryl, Detective Johnsion and Officer Turner stepped out, the moon already covered the sun, turning the world into a place of darkness.  
"Wow," muttered the detective while taking a short look on the shape of the sun.  
Darryl only swallowed, knowing that they were definitely running out of time.  
Kyle Turner looked around scared. All he had seen in the last minutes... and now that freaky darkness at lunchtime... That was a little too much for him.  
"And now?" Detective Johnson asked.  
Darryl shrugged. He knew they could do nothing. He looked up to the sky again, realising that the star shower had already begun.  
Also the others looked up again... and were suddenly terrified to death, when they noticed a cloud of darkness, much darker then everything else they had seen before, was covering the sky. It took away the remaining light from the sun and also the falling stars were not able to be seen anymore.  
"What the hell..." Detective Johnson swore.  
Darryl just mumbled in shock: "Oh my God... it has started..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"What is that, Miss Nicholus?" a little girl asked scared.  
Nicki was looking at the sky as well as all the other kids did, and murmured: "I don't know sweetie... I don't know."  
She wished she could have that telepathic connection with Steve, as Tom had, to be able to ask him what was going on. She was sure that that weird darkness in the sky after the eclipse and the star shower had something to do with that call from their friend.  
Nicki lowered her eyes to see the kids who were starting to panic, and some of them were even crying. "Ok, listen to me. We're going to that building in search for shelter."  
"Is this a demon, Mrs. Nicholus?" a little boy asked.  
Nicki shook her head: "No, this is a weather phenomenon. Just that. Let's go... Maybe there will be a storm after this." And she led all the kids towards one of the factories in the area, praying that her friends were able to stop that, whatever it was.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo and Piper were sitting in her bed, emerged into a comforting hug. Piper was still sobbing. She still couldn't believe all the things that had happened. Leo tried desperately to calm her down. But he couldn't... and he could hardly hold back his own tears... But he had to... for her.  
When the door opened both looked up.  
"Mommy! Mommy!" Wyatt yelled and ran over to her, climbing the bed and putting his little arms around Piper. She hugged him back tightly like she never wanted to let him go again.  
Leo looked at Bianca, when she walked in, too. "Did you find him?" he asked.  
Bianca shrugged: "They are working on it... Julian said he knows where he is..."  
"Julian?" Leo asked back.  
Bianca nodded: "Long story."  
Piper was about to ask her for a more detailed answer, when it started to getting dark outside. They all looked out the small window and saw how even the starlight began to disappear.  
"It stated," Leo whispered.  
Piper began to cry again. "Oh no... not my babies," she muttered.  
"Mommy not cry," Wyatt said suddenly in his childish voice, "Chris fine."  
Piper looked at him astonished. Then she looked at her husband.  
"Could he know?" Bianca spoke out what Piper already thought.  
Leo shrugged: "Maybe... at least they are magical brothers... let us hope that his words are the truth."

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris and Michael orbed into the tunnel the Elder-witch turned furious at his friend: "What the hell shall that be? Do you want to get killed, Mike???"  
The man rose his hands in defence: "I have to be here on your side... Cole and Phoebe saw it!"  
Chris wanted to answer something, but suddenly felt dizzy. Michael hold him to prevent him from falling. "What happened?" he asked.  
Chris suddenly smiled. "You picked really a nice moment to discover our connection, Wyatt," he muttered to himself feeling the presence of his little big bother inside his mind.  
"What's going on Chris?" Michael asked again.  
The Elder-witch waved his hand to stop him. "Later... we have to rescue the world first," he replied with a dry voice and followed the tunnel.  
After a few meters they suddenly stopped again.  
In front of them were two persons. One of them was desperately trying to stop the other from walking into the cave the tunnel led to.  
"Is that Julian?" Michael asked.  
Chris nodded: "And Belthazor."  
Michael looked at his friend shocked. But Chris kept his eyes on the couple, so he turned his attention back to them, too.  
They both saw how Julian tried to stop the red demon, but finally failed. Belthazor entered the cave, while Julian sank down to the ground, mumbling words Chris couldn't understand.  
The Elder-witch took a deep breath, went over to him and knelt down. Julian looked at him surprised.  
"Is he your friend?" Chris asked.  
Julian swallowed, then nodded. "He isn't evil..." he whispered, "not since he knew you... you saved not only Cole's soul, you saved also his... Please you have to stop them before..."  
Chris nodded and then followed the red demon carefully.

°°°°°°°°°°

Waterbe smiled at the sight of the huge figure drawn in the shadows of one of the entrances to the sublevel. Cris, Blanca and Jonathan turned to look in the direction that followed Waterbe's eyes.  
"Welcome, my friend..."  
Belthazor advanced towards him menacingly: "Are you crazy? What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
Waterbe smirked: "Resurrecting our Lord, of course. I'm really grateful for your coming."  
"I didn't come for you." answered the reddish demon, peeping over is shoulder just to see the red light emanating from the baby's body at the contact of Cris's hand.  
Waterbe kept smiling at him: "Of course you came for me. You had to come, because we need you.."  
He had made an slight signal to Jonathan, who knew what he had to do now, while they talked. The man approached Belthazor who wasn't able to defend himself or move away... it just didn't work. Jonathan used an athame on his arm, making Belthazor groan in anger.  
"What are you doing!!??" he exclaimed, throwing the man against a wall.  
Waterbe did exactly the same thing with him: "I only need your blood, old friend." He went closer to him and cleaned his arm with a white cloth.  
"Your life is wanted down here. Traitors are treated that way... I'll give them that satisfaction."  
Belthazor started to stand up but Waterbe used his powers to keep him down.  
Jonathan stood up in pain. "We need to complete the ceremony, Mr. Waterbe. It's about time!" he cried, looking at Cris, who was still touching the crying little baby's body.  
"You're right, then... maybe to prevent him from spoiling my plans, I should kill him..." He formed a huge energy ball in his hand after having handed the athame with the blood to Blanca: "Finish the ceremony, I'll finish my work."  
Belthazor roared in desperation and wroth, as he saw Waterbe getting closer. Again he couldn't move.  
Suddenly, when Blanca was about to mix the drops of blood with the other elements, Waterbe was thrown against a wall, and fell in the water.  
"You're not going to carry out any plan, man." It was Chris, who had just intervened in order to save Belthazor. He should have gone straight to his little self and his twin, but he couldn't just leave Belthazor die, not before knowing what was going on with him and Julian. He owed that to the witch...

* * *

_(Chapter 10 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)_


	11. Chapter 11

**A Charmed Story - Part Six:  
Happy Birthday, Chris!  
Chapter 11**

"Oh, my God..." Paige was still hiding, not knowing what to do, when she saw Belthazor appear, and right after him, Chris... and when she turned her look to the place from where they both had come, she saw... Michael!!!!  
Her heart beat strongly, what should she do? Just let him pass? Or retain the young man, so that nothing happened to him? She sighed and orbed over to him. As soon as she rematerialized she grasped his arm, making him startle.  
"What the hell..." he exclaimed before noticing his friend's aunt.  
"What do you think you're going to do?" Paige asked.  
"Well... What do you think? I'm going to help him!" Michael shot back at her. He was about to leave the tunnel.  
"Oh no, man, you stay!" Paige said and hold him back again.  
At that moment Julian showed up behind them. "She's right," he said, "you should stay in the back... you can't help anyway."  
"What are you doing here?" Paige asked surprised.  
"I... I mean... I... " the witch didn't now what to say.  
"He came with us," Michael said quickly, noticing the other man's problem. But not sure why he was helping him. Julian just nodded.  
"Ok," Paige said with a sigh, "so we go out there now and end this..."  
"But don't hurt the source," Julian exclaimed suddenly.  
Paige looked at him in disbelieving: "What? He is here, helping them, and you want me to reprieve him???"  
"He isn't doing that on his own will... they forced him to come... they called him in his mind... he wasn't able to stand that..." Julian tried to explain.  
'Was that fear in his voice?' Paige thought. 'Was he worried about him?' She frowned.  
"And," Michael added realising that this conversation went into the wrong direction, "we maybe need him to stop this!" Julian nodded quickly.  
Paige sighed. She felt that there was something going on... she didn't trust that Julian. But she also knew that they were running out of time.  
"Ok, " she nodded, "let's go."  
While Paige was already leaving Julian turned to Michael. "You stay here," he commanded. And as the young man nodded he whispered: "Thanks..." Then he followed Paige into the cave.

°°°°°°°°°°

Blanca reacted quickly and attacked the intruder with several fireballs.  
Chris was shocked for a moment, when he saw that woman looking exactly like his wife... But there was one important difference, this woman was not pregnant...  
Noticing that, brought him back to reality and made him avoid the fireballs right on time.  
Jonathan used Chris distraction to help Waterbe out of the water. Now the demon was attacking Chris on his own as Jonathan preferred to stay in the back.  
While stopping Waterbe's energy balls with his own Elder-flashes, Chris saw from the corner of his eyes, that the freaky woman was about to put the bloody athame carefully on the stone next to his little self. Chris stopped breathing... He had to hold her back or everything would be over... but he was too far away, and too busy with Waterbe.  
Suddenly he heard a very familiar voice.  
"Athame!" Paige yelled. "Into the Water!"  
"Right on time," Chris remarked when his aunt winked at him.  
Julian who had been right behind Paige went over to Belthazor first. "Are you ok?" he asked. The source nodded weakly, but Julian saw that he was bleeding strongly.  
Very angry the demonic witch turned around and began to attack Waterbe with fireballs... No one was allowed to hit the source... especially not that freaky little mid-level demon!  
Chris turned meanwhile his attention to his twin. Now he saw for the first time what was going on clearly... and it made him shiver.  
He jumped over the little river, threw Blanca into the water and pulled the man down to the ground forcing him to let go off of his little self. Seconds later they were emerged into a evil fight.  
Meanwhile Paige turned her attention to Travor: "You wanna leave?"  
The man looked at her shocked. "Paige..." he muttered, right before the witch beat him in his face.

°°°°°°°°°°

At that time Phoebe, Veronica, Cole, Steve and Tom had reached the end of the stairs. There was a long tunnel leading them into darkness. No one of them had noticed that the solar eclipse had already began... and so had the ritual.  
"How late is it?" Veronica asked thinking about that.  
But before she could get an answer they were attacked by a group of demons. They couldn't see anything, all they saw where the fire- and energy balls...  
Every witch jumped or ran to hide somewhere.  
"Fuck!" Cole yelled and ducked right that moment, when a fireball cut the air at the place he had stood before. Frightened he kept hiding. "Shit... I'm definitely... too old for that... and completely... out of practise..." he mumbled breathing heavily.  
"Veronica!" Tom yelled.  
She turned around right in time to face a demon, standing over her with a glowing energy ball in his hand.  
Paralysed in panic she watched how the demon suddenly turned to ice. Terrified, grasping for air, she saw how Tom beat the frozen monster into billions of little pieces.  
"Are you ok?" he asked then. She nodded putting, still scared, her arms around him.  
Cole saw how the others were fighting. He wished he could help... But even if he was a witch now, he had no active power and without any fight-training, he should stay in the back...  
'If it only wouldn't be so dark,' he thought. 'Wait... I'm a witch... So I can cast a spell! A spell... a spell... light... light...'  
"Damn I should have paid more attention to my poetry lessons at school!" he exclaimed to himself.  
Then he got it. It had hit him all of a sudden. He took a deep breath and said:  
_"Please magic  
come to my side,  
and spend my friends  
that badly needed light!"_  
Seconds later a dozen of little light spots appeared lighting up the whole area.  
Cole looked at his work astonished. "Wow... It worked... I'm a witch... I'm really a witch," he muttered grinning.

°°°°°°°°°°

Michael watched how Chris was fighting against... well... Chris. It was weird to see that. 'But that's what Cole and Phoebe saw,' he thought to himself. He took a deep breath because... if THAT was true, then surly also the other premonition they had. The one about himself.  
Meanwhile Paige used a potion on Travor who grinned when nothing happened: "I'm only less then a half-part demon... you can't hurt me with that, I'm too much human."  
"Oh... I can... and I did..." she said, "this only takes away your powers... got it from a friend."  
Travor's eyes turned furious as he tried to shimmer which didn't work.  
"Rope," Paige yelled again, "around Travor."  
Seconds later the man was enchained by a strong rope not able to move at least an inch.  
Paige grinned enjoying her victory. Then she turned to Blanca who was struggling to get out of the water and to the baby. She grasped the woman by her hair and pulled her back.  
Meanwhile Julian, yelling furious, vanquished Waterbe with a fireball. Short after that he did the same with Jonathan, before hurrying back to his friend.  
When he saw the worried look on the witch's face, Belthazor grinned: "Don't worry, Julian, I'm alright... Now I am..."  
"I'm sorry," Julian said, "I should have stopped you."  
Belthazor shook his head: "You couldn't... I don't know what kind of power that was, but I couldn't stand it... I'm just glad that at least I didn't hurt you... and don't worry about me, I'll be alright soon."  
Meanwhile Chris and Cris were still fighting. They were rolling on the ground, beating each other.  
Paige, who had already knocked out Blanca and was now watching the two men, wasn't able to tell within the action which one was her Chris.  
Suddenly Michael appeared next to her. "What's your plan?" he asked, while one of the twins hit the other, who was about to rise, down again.  
"I wanted to use a power-binding potion on Chris's twin, but I don't know..." Paige answered at the man.  
Michael sighed, understanding her. Then he had an idea: "Chris... I know you're busy, but could you please do that orb-thing for a second!"  
Even he didn't know why, Chris did as he was told... one of the two turned into orbing lights. Paige, who immediately understood threw the potion the same second at Cris.  
Feeling what had happened the demon flinched when Chris rematerialized.  
The Elder-witch hit his twin on his jaw making him pass out. Then he turned to Michael a little exhausted: "Good idea!"  
"Thanks," he said visibly enjoying all that.  
"Alright," Paige said and pointed at the baby. There was still that dark cloud of "whatever" that grew up around him streaming away to the ceiling and through the tunnels out of the cave. "There is still a little problem."  
Chris swallowed then he turned to his aunt again: "Go to the others... Waterbe send demons after them, they could need you."  
Paige was about to protest but Chris send her a look that showed no room for discussions. So she nodded and orbed away.  
Chris turned to Belthazor: "What have you to do with all that?"  
The source grinned: "Nothing... except that my soul was lost in the deeps of hell, before the balance send me back as counterpart for you... which makes me a 'lost demon', who's blood they needed."  
Chris nodded. He had already thought something like that balance-thing. How else could the red demon had come back... "But why are you helping us?"  
"Because you're a good boy... the world needs you... and now go and save the world again... and your little version."  
Chris nodded and went over to the baby. "Hey mini-me," he said looking at that small piece of life impressed, not knowing what else to do.  
Michael stepped to his side and said: "You have to touch him, like the other one had done it."  
Chris looked at his friend with fear: "How can you know that?"  
"I don't... but I feel it's right... it's the only way," Michael answered. And he wasn't only saying that because of what Cole and Phoebe had told him. He really did feel it!  
Chris sighed: "What if I make things even more worse?"  
"You won't... trust me! If your evil genetic twin could start this, your good soul has to be able to stop it..."  
The Elder-witch nodded. Then he placed his hand carefully on the belly of his little self.  
First nothing happened but then Chris felt something inside him, like a glow which turned bigger and bigger, making his heart beating stronger and his breath going faster.  
Michael stepped a little backwards noticing a little light between the two versions of his friend.  
And then a great bright and blinding white light broke free, filling the room, the tunnels, the air, the whole world...  
Michael closed his eyes in pain, same as Julian and Belthazor.  
Paige who was already with the others screamed in panic and Cole hugged Phoebe tightly while the light covered them.  
Detective Johnson couldn't believe his own eyes when he saw the light streaming out of the storage. Darryl and Officer Turner, scared to death, jumped behind their car in order to protect themselves.  
The kids stepped closer to Nicki who tried to comfort them as good as she could, even if she was filled with panic on her own.  
Bianca closed her eyes and touched her womb, praying that her husband was alright, while Leo and Wyatt hugged Piper tightly when the light filled her room.  
Victor hid under his sofa afraid of a demon attacking him.  
Every woman every man in the world shut their eyes confused, because of the unexpected bright light... every kid playing in the sand, every mother taking care for her baby, every man working for his family, every teen sitting in front of the computer... every single person!  
The light even reached the Elders making them froze in fear.  
Chris felt a little dizzy. He got the feeling of a strange exchange between him and his little self.  
Then everything turned calm. Looking around he noticed himself standing in a great white hall without ending... THAT white hall... He looked at the boy in his arms: "Hey mini-me, do you know what's going on here?"  
"You really should stop calling him that?"  
Chris turned around to face 'himself' again: "What shall that be? What do you want from me again?"  
"I'm just taking my chance to contact you again while you're about to pass out... I'm here to beg you to stop me... my existence... otherwise the day will come, that I tell your little version all the things about your past lives, like I did it to you... and I really don't want that..."  
Chris took a deep breath and then sighed, looking at the child. He was right, completely right... He didn't want the little baby to remember all those sad things.  
He nodded and smiled weakly. "So that means that I won't see you again..." The other one smiled and nodded. "Which also means that I won't remember anything...anything at all, about my past lives."  
The incarnation of his memories stared at Chris for a second, and then nodded once again, closing his eyes: "You'll only remember the present timeline, Chris. Your actual life, which means your true childhood, and your last coming back to the past, when you saved Wyatt."  
Chris frowned: "So I will remember his being evil and all?"  
The other one smiled even widely: "That's your life... That is you. You will forget the times you failed, the times you died, and all those pasts. But you have to keep your true life, and the true past, the one that led to this timeline."  
Chris smiled back weakly. "Ok..." he murmured, staring at the baby, who was calm and happy on his arms.  
When he raised his eyes again, everything was black, and no other Chris was there.  
The whole scene was spinning in his mind, and finally he opened his eyes a little bit.  
'The baby...'

°°°°°°°°°°

Michael had tried to open his eyes, but whenever he tried he felt that terrible pain on his head.  
Suddenly, he had the feeling that the light was fading away. He reopened his eyes little by little, carefully, and looked around, feeling disoriented.  
The first thing he saw was the colored witch-demon or whatever that had helped them, as well as the reddish demon they called the source.  
"Take care of your friend," the huge old Belthazor said, pointing at Chris.  
Michael frowned, he was really surprised that a demon was helping them, but then he remembered Cole, and all his story, and tried to believe that sometimes demons are more like guardian angels, however weird it was.  
Julian nodded and smiled weakly. Then, he took the wounded Belthazor by the arm, and shimmered away with him.  
"Wait!" Michael cried, but it was too late.  
When he turned to his friend, the light was almost gone and Chris had taken his little version to his arms. He seemed to be dizzy.  
"Chris!!" Michael exclaimed.  
His friend didn't hear him. He was just stumbling, and finally he passed out.  
Michael ran towards him, he had to catch the baby. 'I wish I could orb,' he thought.  
But at that very moment, the baby orbed straight to his arms.  
"Wow!" he exclaimed.  
Chris crashed against the floor with a heavy thud.  
"Chris..." he murmured, rushing to his side, and kneeling by his friend. He took a look around himself. How the hell was he supposed to get out of there?  
Then he saw Cris, who was standing up slowly.  
Michael was shocked at the similarity. They were more than twins. They were the same person, how could that be?? So similar, and so different.  
Cris glanced at him with hatred: "Tell him that there's no place in this world for both of us." Then he ran away and disappeared through one of the tunnels.  
Michael saw scared how he escaped. For a moment he couldn't react. Then he turned to Chris.. He was opening his eyes.  
"The baby..." he mumbled. He had just realised he didn't have his mini-self on his arms, and was panicking.  
"He's alright, Chris... He's fine." His friend showed the baby to him, and Chris smiled.  
"Where's everyone?" he asked, getting a sitting position.  
Michael smiled. "You scared them all, except me, of course," then turned to Travor, who was still tied up, "and that pseudo-demon." Both of them laughed soundly.  
Then, Michael took his arm: "Let's go home, Chris."  
Chris sighed, looking around. Only an angry Trevor was there. Chris orbed him to the main level, where Darryl could find him.  
Apart from him, to whom no one would believe at all, the place was deserted, the two rivers would keep their secrets for hundreds and hundreds of years, because they had saved the world again...

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe, Cole, Paige, Steve, Tom and Veronica saw how the light vanished very slowly.  
They were hugging each other, thinking it was the apocalypse, finally. Maybe Chris hadn't arrived on time, after all.  
But when the light faded, they were still alive. And when they looked around, they could see that all the demons and hooded people had disappeared. Some piles of ashes made them believe that the servers of Satan had been killed by the true light.  
At first they just looked at each other. Then they smiled, and finally they started to laugh. It was real... it was all over.  
"But what about Chris? And Michael??"  
"Let's go home and check up if they are ok... If they got back." Phoebe said. "If not, Tom can shimmer us back here."  
And after that, they did as she suggested, but Tom took Steve first back to Nicki, who jumped among the scared kids and hugged her boy with all her love, crying in happiness.  
All the children stared at them, some still freaked out, some amused.  
"And this..." Steve said, out of breath because of Nicki's hug, "this is exactly what we wanted you to see today. I'm sorry if you were scared, but didn't you want magic? That was magic in the Middle Ages, kids. An eclipse, and a star shower..."  
All of them exchanged amazed and wonderingly looks, as Nicki laughed.  
"Good lesson, Stevie... Just, this was magic also today. Come on, let's go back to the youth hostel, and tell me everything..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Look, Silas..." Odin said, looking at the book.  
The other elder looked at the page that he was showing to him, and gasped. The prophecy was disappearing.  
"But why...?" he asked in awe.  
"Because the prophecies are there to be fulfilled. If they aren't, then there's no reason for their existence."  
Silas smiled understanding. The Halliwells had saved the world once again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Darryl, Detective Johnson and Officer Turner saw in awe how everything went on. Finally the light faded away, and the street was submerged in an incredible calmness.  
"Come on..." Detective Johnson said.  
They ran towards the storage, Darryl praying that Chris and the others weren't there. When they got in, they only found a tied up Travor, the son of Mr. Anderson, of 'Anderson International', a subsidiary company of 'Waterbe Inc.', as they would know later.  
Moreover, the nurse in the hospital would start to hesitate. Perhaps she was wrong, she had seen a handsome man, around the same age as Mr. Wyatt's son, as he had called him once, or whatever he was... Yes, perhaps she was wrong. Actually, now she was sure that she had seen Travor, who tried to show he hadn't been there at all.  
His father had a lot of money, he would pay for his freedom, Travor said angrily as he was imprisoned. But when they called Mr. Anderson and Mr. Waterbe, they found out that they were gone. There offices were a mess, as if there had been a battle there. But no trace of blood or anything.  
Anderson had disappeared. No one noticed the little pile of ashes that rested on the floor, by the table... "Il mesaggero has failed, you have failed, and I'll have to wait a thousand of years to be reborn. But you'll pay for this." Those had been the last words that Anderson had heard in his life, before being reduced to ashes. Travor would never find his father, and would never care, if he hadn't needed him to be free...

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper and Leo had been hugging each other until everything was over.  
Bianca had sat down on the floor, in a corner, trying to protect herself from the light.  
Then, Piper kept sobbing uncontrollably, and Leo rubbed her back. "He's ok, honey, he is... Believe me..."  
Suddenly, bluish orbs filled the room, and Chris materialised with Michael and his little self. Leo and Bianca jumped in surprise and happiness while Piper sat up in her bed, and they all embraced each other, crying.  
Piper took little Chris in her arms, sobbing, and Leo smiled and cried at the same time, looking at the baby, as Bianca kept hugging Chris and Michael observed the scene from behind.  
"Sorry, Mike, I need to go somewhere first," Chris had told him in the middle of his orbs. He smiled, happy to be part of such a story. Then he frowned. He would need to invent something to tell his wife. "Very boring, honey... Very boring. I really missed being with your mom," he would tell her in the afternoon.

°°°°°°°°°°

"What's that Chris?" Bianca asked, at the sight of Chris holding a little vial.  
The man didn't turn, just kept staring at the bottle: "A potion... To forget."  
"To forget?" she frowned.  
Chris nodded: "To forget all the other timelines. To only remember those things I really lived. I'm not sure if I should take it... It's like killing a part of myself... But someone told me that I should save my mini-me from those memories and..."  
"Who told you that?" asked Bianca, caressing his back. Chris looked at her and said nothing. Then he smiled: "Someone who I should learn to believe in..."  
"So... if you think he was alright, do it... You do not need those memories. You do not need those nightmares anymore."  
Chris nodded, and kept looking at the potion: "I know..."

_

* * *

(Chapter 11 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x) _

**

* * *

Alright... That's the end of Part Six... We hope you've enjoyed reading it... Next week we'll start with "A Charmed Story - Part Seven"... So stay tuned... **


End file.

Charmed, Mystery